NCP working on an MVA-like alliance in Goa: Praful Patel

The Nationalist Congress Party NCP with support of regional parties will look to put together a Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA like formation in Goa minus the Congress BJP and AAP to form a credible alternative nonBJP alliance in the coastal state ahead of the 2022 polls senior party leader Praful Patel said on TuesdayThe NCPspeaks with support of regional parties will look to put together a MahaVikasAghadi like formation in Goa minus the Congress BJP amp AAP to form a credible alternative nonBJP alliance in the coastal state ahead of the 2022 polls Sr party leader praful_patel said pictwittercomSmKRiMayWsmdash IANS Tweets ians_india October 27 2020Addressing a press conference in Panaji Patel said that in the manner in which the MVA had saved the Aarey forests from destruction the party would work towards scrapping of central government projects facilitating coal transportation in Goa which he said would destroy the states environment along with tourism prospectsLike the MVA in Maharashtra we can give an alternative nonBJP government in Goa We are not concerned what BJP does and Congress does Our primary objective is to build NCP and build a credible alternative I am sure the NCP along with likeminded parties without Congress or BJP will be in a position to build trust of the people of Goa said Patel who is incharge of the NCPs Goa deskThe NCP currently has one MLA in the 40member state legislative assembly who is currently providing issuebased support to the ruling BJPled coalition governmentPatel said that the pandemichit year 2020 had disrupted political action plans of all political parties and added that the NCP would work towards building the organisation in the runup to the 2022 Goa assembly pollsAsked why the party would not be looking at support from the Congress party as an alliance partner Patel blamed All India Congress Committee secretary Dinesh Gundu Raos recent statement in which the Congress leader said that the Sonia Gandhiled party was considering going it alone in the forthcoming pollsCongress as I said last time 2017 they did not want to have an alliance with us Now also they are making announcements that they will fight on their own Patel said adding that had the Congress and NCP formed an alliance in 2017 the two parties would have been in a position toAform a government on their ownReacting to a question on the position of the NCP on the multimodal coal corridor which is being developed in Goa which has seen sustained opposition from civil society groups and the political opposition Patel said that if the NCP is voted to power the corridor will meet the same fate as the controversial metro rail project passing through the Aarey forests in GoregaonNCP is very very committed to the environment and we will always take up issues where the environment is protected and Goas most important is tourism Without environment tourism will be finished in Goa We have to support tourism and protect the environment That is a must for Goa Patel saidLike we scrapped the Aarey project to protect the environment and the green cover of Mumbai also with the coal project No one should use Goa to use the state as a landing point to supply to the rest of the country to destroy the ecology of Goa Patel saidNearly 50000 trees located in the Western Ghats region of Goa are slotted for felling for multiple central government projects which include expansion of railway lines and highways and drawing of a new high tension power spread across protected forests and wildlife reserves in the Westrern GhatsThe projects have already been cleared by the National Wildlife Board for Wildlife in April this yearThe Opposition as well as civil society groups and tourism stakeholders bodies have expressed apprehension over the projects which they claim were being pushed at an express pace to facilitate movement of coal imported through the Mormugao Port Trust facility in Goa to steel mills in Karnatakas BellaryHospet areasKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever