Mangalore :Michael Lobo BJP MLA from Calangute, Goa has said that the BJP has never considered itself as a Hindutva party and has never tried to look down upon minorities.
A six member team from Goa including four MLAs including Lobo had arrived in Mangalore on April 26, Friday. Lobo who was part of the delegation spoke to reporters at the District BJP office.
Speaking about the present scenario in Goa, he said people of Goa turned up against the Congress which looted the state and gave the BJP an opportunity to rule.
Though BJP is being dubbed as communal, most of the party workers in Goa were minorities, he said. Goa is a good example to prove that the administration can improve when majority and minorities worked hand in hand. He also claimed that communal violence has now become a thing of past in Goa under the BJP rule.
To a query if the Hindu outfits aren’t a part of the BJP, Lobo said it were such outfits which are making such claims and not the BJP. He claimed that such outfits were not a part of the BJP.
When the BJP MLA from Goa fumbled to reply to a query if those in the Bhajrangdal are not with the BJP, MLC Capt Ganesh Karnik who was present, said as the party welcomes everyone, some of those in the Bhajrangdal too are also members of the BJP.
The Goan delegation also met Mangalore Bishop Fr Aloysius Paul D’Souza. An election campaign vehicle of the party equipped with a large LED screen was flagged off on the occasion by the team of Goa MLAs. Glen DSouza Ticolo, MLA, Aldano, Nilesh Cabral, MLA, Curchorem, Carlos Almeida, MLA, Vasco, Juinho DSouza, State Executive Member, BJP, Goa and Dattaprasad Kholker, State Vice-President, BJP, Goa were part of the delegation.