Pramod Sawant condemns GFP leader's remarks against Goa's first CM Bandodkar

Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has conndemned Goa Forward Party (GFP) president Vijai Sardesai's remarks claiming that the state's first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar had an "allergy to the state's identity".

Sawant in a post on X on Wednesday said such a claim was "not just a misrepresentation but a blatant and disgraceful insult to the legacy of Goa's first chief minister", who was also known Bhausaheb Bandodkar.

He condemned the "anti-Bhausaheb and anti-Goa rhetoric" and said such a remark was a disrespect to the very spirit of Goa.

On January 16, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Venzy Viegas, during the inauguration of a sewage treatment plant in his constituency in South Goa district, equated current CM Sawant to Bandodkar for their vision for the coastal state.

On Tuesday, Sardesai, whose party shares the opposition space in the state with the AAP, stated that the comparison of Sawant with Bandodkar was "utterly amusing".

The GFP chief said he found Viegas' comments equating Goa's first chief minister with the current CM as "extremely superficial".

"The only similarity I see between those two is their undisguised desire to not only undermine Goa's unique identity and ethos, but also run Goa as an extended territory of Maharashtra," he claimed.

CM Sawant has an allergy towards "Goenchi Asmitai" (Goa's identity). "Similarly, Bandodkar also had an allergy to Goenchi Asmitai," Sardesai charged.

Responding to Sardesai's comments, CM Sawant in the post on X said, "No! Bhausaheb Bandodkar never had an allergy to Goa's Asmitai! Claiming that Bhahusaheb made a mistake or harboured an allergy to Goa's identity is not just a misrepresentation but a blatant and disgraceful insult to the legacy of Goa's first chief minister." "Bhausaheb was a towering figure who tirelessly championed Goa's identity and development. The real problem lies with Vijai Sardesai and his inflated ego, which fuels his delusion that individuals like him are somehow "more Goan" than others," he said.

"I unequivocally condemn this anti-Bhausaheb and anti-Goa rhetoric in its entirety. Such remark is a disrespect to the very spirit of Goa," Sawant said.