Panaji (Goa): Ahead of the 2022 Goa assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ganpat Gaonkar has joined the Aam Aadmi Party in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday.
"Gaonkar had been a BJP member for a period of 15 years before he quit in the year 2020 to contest the Zilla Parishad as an independent candidate," reads the press release by AAP.
"He is a major force on land rights issues in Sattari since the year 1999 and has also participated in several land rights movements. He has been part of the struggles of the villagers of Saleli and the recent Meluli protests as well. He is also the director of the Sattari Taluka Farmers Co-operative Society since 2014," said the official statement.
As per the release, "Sattari is one of the most poverty struck areas in Goa. Gaonkar knows first-hand how Kejriwal's Veej and Job Guarantee will help the residents who have been ignored by the father-son Rane Duo. Gaonkar informed that Pratap Singh Rane and Vishwajit Rane, the sitting MLAs have been fooling the people of Sattari for long."
"We have to end the dictatorship of the father-son Rane Duo in Sattari, in the last 15 years, no development activity has taken place in Sattari, due to which the situation has only deteriorated. They run Sattari, Valpoi and Poriem as if it is their personal fief. There are hardly any jobs due to which many families have come below the poverty line. The Rane duo give this to mostly their chamchas and anyone who objects is silenced" said Ganpat Gaonkar.
