Panaji: Thousands of protesters, including political leaders and NGOs, agitated outside both residences of TCP minister Vishwajit Rane in Dona Paula on Monday, demanding that Section 39(A) of the TCP Act be scrapped.The agitators also demanded that the Panaji police inspector be suspended for manhandling St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar at the TCP office, where he demanded that land conversion at Palem-Siridao be stopped.The protests began on Saturday, and on Monday, they decided to continue their agitation and sit outside Rane’s residences until their demands are met, but later, they shifted to Azad Maidan.Reacting to the public protests, chief minister Pramod Sawant said, “They can give a proper representation to the collector. Nobody stopped them from speaking. But marching with people to a minister’s residence and taking the law into their own hands is not right, and it does not suit a peoples’ representative.” He added, “I request the MLAs as well as protesters not to take the law into their own hands. If they want to protest, they can do it at the right platform at Azad Maidan”.Protesters shouted slogans against the govt and Rane outside his residence. They had called for a maha andolan on Sunday after Rane challenged them.Borkar continued his indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan.Fatorda MLA and GFP president Vijai Sardesai, who was at Azad Maidan, refused to go to Rane’s residence. Earlier in the afternoon, Goa police stopped buses with protesters in South Goa who were on their way to Azad Maidan to take part in the protest. After the intervention of opposition MLAs, police allowed some buses to proceed.Over 2,000 agitators arrived at Azad Maidan around 4pm, and after the announcement to move to Rane’s residence, people started walking towards Dona Paula. Police tried to stop the agitators at three different locations, but the agitators skipped the barricades and reached his house. They then split into three groups as police stopped some people at Aivao, some reached Rane’s residence near Lok Bhavan, while most protesters, including opposition MLAs, reached Rane’s Dona Paula residence near a private hospital.Leader of ppposition Yuri Alemao said that the demand was that the govt should scrap Section 39(A) and suspend or terminate PI Panaji for manhandling an MLA like an animal. “Chief minister Pramod Sawant, Rane, chief secretary, or any top bureaucrats should come to them and give us assurance that the PI will be suspended and Section 39(A) will be scrapped,” said RGP president Manoj Parab.Parab also hit out at Sardesai for not coming to Rane’s residence. “Houses of Goans are demolished, but Sardesai’s house is protected, and that is the reason he did not come to Rane’s residence. I charge that he was sitting with Rane,” he said.Parab said that if their demands are not met, people would lose control and agitators would turn violent. “If our MLA is left to die, we are ready to die for him. This fight is karo ya maro,” he said, adding that more than 4,000 people would join the agitators, but police stopped them from coming to Panaji.Parab also said that there was no law and order in the state and that govt was protecting the interests of people from Delhi.Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira said, “It is an assault on democracy. People are expressing themselves peacefully after seeing rampant destruction of Goa. Govt wants to suppress people by stopping buses coming to Panaji.”AAP Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas said that govt should agree with the demands of people and should not push people to the wall.Sardesai said that he visited the official residence of the CM in connection with the assault on Rama Kankonkar. “I came here to show solidarity and not to go to anyone’s residence,” he said.
