{"id":110534,"date":"2026-03-14T20:02:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T14:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/?p=110534"},"modified":"2026-03-14T20:02:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T14:32:23","slug":"aap-slams-bjp-for-blocking-crucial-bills-meant-to-protect-goas-land-and-rivers-called-it-black-friday-for-goa-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/?p=110534","title":{"rendered":"AAP slams BJP For blocking crucial bills meant to protect Goa\u2019s land and rivers; called it black friday for Goa assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Goa Khabar : Aam Aadmi Party Goa leader Sr Vice President Sandesh Teleikar-Dessai, Organisation Secretary Prashant Naik, ST Leader Rajesh Gaonkar, Vice President Roque Mascarenhas and Youth Leader Neash Coutinho addressed the media and exposed how the BJP government blocked the introduction of crucial Private Members\u2019 Bills in the Goa Legislative Assembly stating that the democratic process was deliberately undermined to prevent discussion on issues affecting the people of Goa.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>AAP leaders pointed out that the party\u2019s MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva have consistently raised issues in the Assembly that directly impact the identity, environment and livelihoods of the people of Goa. They stated that the BJP government fears the strong and principled opposition put forward by AAP, and therefore ensured that these important bills were not even allowed to be introduced in the House.<\/p>\n<p>AAP Senior Vice President Sandesh Teleikar-Dessai said the events in the Assembly exposed the government\u2019s true intentions. \u201cBy blocking these bills, the BJP government has clearly shown that it fears any legislation that seeks to protect Goa\u2019s land and natural resources from powerful interests. These bills were meant to safeguard Goa\u2019s agricultural fields, ecology and traditional livelihoods, but the government chose to silence the discussion itself,\u201d he said. Teleikar-Dessai further alleged that the government\u2019s reluctance to allow debate on these bills raises serious questions about whose interests are being protected.<\/p>\n<p>He said that unchecked land conversions, expansion of casino gambling and commercial control over rivers and coastlines are benefiting a powerful nexus that continues to fund the BJP\u2019s political machinery and election campaigns. Instead of protecting Goa\u2019s environment and traditional livelihoods, the government appears more interested in protecting the financial interests of those who bankroll their politics.<\/p>\n<p>AAP Organisation Secretary Prashant Naik stated that the Goa Protection of Agricultural Lands Bill, 2026 was jointly brought forward by Opposition MLAs including AAP MLAs Cruz Silva and Venzy Viegas in response to strong public sentiment against large-scale land conversions and the widespread protests against Section 39A. The bill sought to ensure that Goa\u2019s agricultural lands and eco-sensitive zones remain protected for future generations. However, the government deliberately prevented the bills from being introduced because it feared public scrutiny. It is clearly evident to the people of Goa that all the Ministers and ruling MLAs are involved in the land conversation to fill their own pockets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrivate Members\u2019 Day was clearly hijacked to stop discussion on issues that expose the BJP government\u2019s anti-people policies. If these bills had been discussed, the people of Goa would have clearly seen which MLA stands for protecting Goa and who stands with land mafias and vested interests,\u201d Naik stated.<\/p>\n<p>AAP leader Roque Mascarenhas said that MLA Capt. Venzy Viegas had presented three important bills addressing key public concerns \u2014 the Goa Public Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Goa, Daman and Diu Irrigation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Goa Maritime Board Act Bill, 2026. These bills aimed to address growing concerns about the expansion of casino gambling, severe pollution in Goa\u2019s creeks including the black water reported in Colva Creek, and the unregulated expansion of port jurisdiction that threatens the traditional rights of fishermen and local communities who depend on these waterways for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n<p>AAP South Goa Youth Wing President Neash Coutinho said that Goa\u2019s rivers and streams are getting polluted due to industrial and medical waste, yet the government did not even allow the Irrigation Amendment Bill meant to protect them to be presented and Instead of addressing these serious environmental concerns, the government continues to ignore the destruction of forests and rising human\u2013wildlife issues.<\/p>\n<p>AAP leaders further stated that by blocking the bills, the BJP government has demonstrated that it prioritises political funding and financial interests over the welfare of Goans. They alleged that the continued conversion of agricultural land, expansion of casinos and commercial control over Goa\u2019s natural resources is part of a larger system where powerful lobbies benefit while ordinary citizens lose their land, environment and livelihoods.<\/p>\n<p>The Aam Aadmi Party Goa unit reiterated that it will continue to stand firmly for the protection of Goa\u2019s land, rivers, environment and identity, and will keep exposing policies that threaten the future of the state and its people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Goa Khabar : Aam Aadmi Party Goa leader Sr Vice President Sandesh Teleikar-Dessai, Organisation Secretary Prashant Naik, ST Leader Rajesh Gaonkar, Vice President Roque Mascarenhas and Youth Leader Neash Coutinho addressed the media and exposed how the BJP government blocked the introduction of crucial Private Members\u2019 Bills in the Goa Legislative Assembly stating that the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25169,"featured_media":110535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[155,6],"tags":[3794],"class_list":["post-110534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-155","category-6","tag-featured"],"read":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/25169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110536,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110534\/revisions\/110536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/110535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}