Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Derek O’Brien today lashed out at the BJP for tearing down placards, posters and Trinamul party flags in Goa prior to the visit of Union Home minister Amit Shah to the western state.

The Trinamul MP said that their presence in Goa has unnerved Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah. This is the reason the BJP Goa is tearing down Trinamul’s posters, flags, hoardings and putting up BJP’S flags, hoardings and posters. “This clearly indicates that they are afraid of Trinamul Congress. But by tearing our posters you cannot stop us from winning the goal. We will fight alone in the 2022 election in Goa,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Tearing down our hoardings and posters and replacing them with your master Amit Shahji won’t make any difference. People of Goa will not forget their sufferings in last four years,” Mr O’Brien stated. He said that the people of Goa is frustrated both with Congress and BJP and they sincerely want a change.

“They have seen Congress over 50 years and BJP for the past two terms. So they want a change and want to give Trinamul Congress a chance. They have seen Mamata Banerjee’s development work in West Bengal, and her schemes for women and unemployed youths”

Former Congress chief minister from Goa, Luizinho Falerio, former AICC general secretary and seven times MLA from Navelim formally joined the Trinamul Congress on 29 September. Nine others, including former MLAs, sarpanchs, general secretaries or secretaries of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, advocates, a Sahitya Academy winner author, social activists also joined the Trinamul alongside him.

Later, three national-level footballers joined Trinamul. The former CM from Goa and nine others met Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna before joining the Trinamul officially. At the time, Miss Banerjee stated, “It’s a matter of great pride for me to welcome former Goa chief minister, seven times MLA and a great Goan leader Luizinho Falerio to the Trinamul Congress family.”

She said, “together we will stand up for every Goan, fight divisive forces and work towards ushering in a new dawn for Goa.” Mr Falerio said that his dream is to unify the Congress family which is at present fragmented, into Trinamul, YSR Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

He said, “I lived as a Congressman for 40 years and had the same ideology and my main aim is to consolidate and reunification of Congress to fight unitedly against the divisive forces at the Centre and at Goa who are trying to destroy of culture, heritage, democracy and freedom of expression.”

He said both the country and Goa are at the point of economic meltdown. He said 65 per cent of the country’s population are jobless and the highest unemployment in the last 45 years came during the seven years of BJP government at the Centre. Mr Falerio said, “my mission to join Trinamul Congress is to fight against the BJP who has brought the culture of violence, hatred and intolerance in India.”

He said Goa is like the jewel on the crown of India and after the BJP came to. power, they are destroying the culture, heritage and natural resources of Goa. He said under BJP government, illegal mining is rampant in Goa. Mr Falerio said, “I started my career as an activist and painstakingly preserved the cultural heritage. My twin movements are to achieve statehood for Goa and local language should be used as a mother tongue.”