{"id":8971,"date":"2026-09-23T20:49:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T15:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaonkaari.com\/venugopal-leads-congress-attack-on-bjp-during-goy-rakhan-yatra-calls-for-protecting-goa\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T20:49:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T15:19:03","slug":"venugopal-leads-congress-attack-on-bjp-during-goy-rakhan-yatra-calls-for-protecting-goa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaonkaari.com\/mr\/venugopal-leads-congress-attack-on-bjp-during-goy-rakhan-yatra-calls-for-protecting-goa\/","title":{"rendered":"Venugopal Leads Congress Attack on BJP During Goy Rakhan Yatra, Calls for \u2018Protecting Goa\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Panaji, Sept 23: The Congress intensified its political campaign against the BJP government in Goa on Wednesday, with AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal using the second day of the Goy Rakhan Yatra to accuse the ruling party of failing Goa on land protection, employment, governance and democratic accountability.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Addressing gatherings at Priol and Cumbarjua, Venugopal described the BJP government as a \u201cChori Sarkar\u201d and said the Congress campaign would seek public suggestions while travelling across the State.<\/p>\n

The 27-day Goy Rakhan Yatra began on September 22 and is scheduled to cover all 40 Assembly constituencies before concluding on October 18. The Congress has described the statewide outreach programme as an effort to interact with residents on issues concerning Goa\u2019s land, identity and future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndians love Goa very much. But BJP is selling Goa. We cannot sit idle anymore,\u201d Venugopal said, alleging that unemployment among young people remained a major concern and accusing the government of failing to address it.<\/p>\n

He also promised that Congress, if returned to power, would focus on quality education and employment opportunities for young people after graduation.<\/p>\n

Section 39A takes centre stage<\/h3>\n

The controversial Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act emerged as one of the central issues in Venugopal\u2019s address. He alleged that the provision was being misused in a manner detrimental to Goa and reiterated the Congress position that it would scrap the provision if it forms the next government.<\/p>\n

Venugopal also made broader allegations against the BJP regarding the functioning of democratic institutions and the Election Commission. These were political allegations made during his speech; the BJP and the Election Commission\u2019s responses to those specific remarks were not immediately available in the material provided.<\/p>\n

GPCC President Girish Chodankar claimed the response to the yatra had unsettled the BJP. He accused the government of failing on law and order and alleged that its policies on land and privatisation were hurting Goa and restricting educational opportunities for sections of society.<\/p>\n

AICC Goa in-charge Manikrao Thakare targeted the BJP\u2019s \u201cdouble-engine\u201d government narrative, alleging that unemployment continued to rise despite the party being in power both in Goa and at the Centre.<\/p>\n

Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao alleged that the BJP government had spent around \u20b9700 crore on events and said the yatra would highlight what Congress describes as corruption and threats to Goa\u2019s land. The \u20b9700-crore figure was presented by Alemao and is not independently verified here.<\/p>\n

RGP presence adds political significance<\/h3>\n

The presence of Revolutionary Goans Party president Shavina Shirodkar was also notable against the backdrop of continuing discussion about Opposition cooperation ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.<\/p>\n

Shirodkar said governance should reflect the will of the people and raised concerns over corruption, employment and protection of Goa\u2019s land.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the Goa we dreamed of. We want a Goa free from all forms of corruption,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Freedom fighter Libia Lobo Sardesai, AICC leaders Dr Anjali Nimbalkar and Manikrao Thakare, Opposition Leader Yuri Alemao, Congress MLAs Altone D\u2019Costa and Carlos Ferreira, South Goa MP Viriato Fernandes, working presidents M K Shaikh and Sunil Kawthankar, and other leaders participated in the programme, according to the Congress account.<\/p>\n

The yatra now gives the Congress nearly a month-long platform to take its campaign across Goa. But alongside its attacks on the BJP, the party is also facing criticism from political opponents: AAP had questioned the Congress campaign ahead of its launch, while Congress leader Elvis Gomes separately questioned the yatra\u2019s objectives.<\/p>\n

With the 2027 Assembly election approaching, the campaign is positioning land protection, Section 39A, unemployment, corruption and Goa\u2019s identity as central themes in the Congress political narrative.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Congress, led by AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal, intensified its campaign against the BJP in Goa, accusing the ruling party of failing on land protection, employment, governance, and democratic accountability during the Goy Rakhan Yatra. The campaign aims to gather public suggestions and highlight issues like Section 39A, unemployment, and corruption ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t