Addressing a press conference in Panaji during the ongoing Goy Rakhonn Yatra, Shri Pawan Khera, Chairman of the AICC Media and Publicity Department, was accompanied by AICC Goa Co-Incharge Dr. Anjali Nimbalkar, GPCC Working President Shri Sunil Kawthankar, GPCC Media Chairman Shri Amarnath Panjikar, and AICC Media Coordinators Shri Nishant Anand and Shri Mrinal Hebbalkar. He said that the growing slogan \u201cGoa for Goenkars\u201d reflects the aspirations and anger of people across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe land, seas, rivers and beauty of Goa have been destroyed. Fifteen years of BJP rule have brought unemployment, narcotics and a serious deterioration in law and order. Goa is now paying the price for the BJP\u2019s failures,\u201d Shri Khera said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He questioned the BJP\u2019s claim of working for Goans, pointing out that while the party seeks votes from Goenkars, Goan youth are increasingly being deprived of employment opportunities. Despite Goa\u2019s high literacy rate, unemployment remains a major concern, with the unemployment rate cited at 8.3 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe BJP wants the votes of Goenkars, but when it comes to jobs, opportunities are being denied to Goan youth. Our educated and talented young people are forced to look elsewhere for employment while the government fails to create adequate opportunities within Goa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shri Khera said the Goy Rakhonn Yatra has brought Congress leaders and workers directly to the people, enabling the party to hear their concerns on employment, land, environment, drugs, infrastructure and governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He expressed serious concern over the growing drug menace in Goa and alleged that drug networks could not flourish without political and administrative protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDrug cartels cannot function without the support of the government. The government must answer the people of Goa on how such networks are operating and why the youth of Goa are being exposed to this dangerous menace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also attacked the BJP government over the deteriorating law and order situation, citing growing concerns over crimes against women, assaults, kidnappings and other serious offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGoa must be a safe place for its people, particularly women and children. The government cannot simply look away while law and order continues to deteriorate,\u201d Shri Khera said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Questioning the government\u2019s environmental policies, he said Goa\u2019s fragile ecology was being sacrificed in the name of development. He raised concerns over land conversions, pollution, the degradation of rivers and coastline, and inadequate public consultation on regional planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also questioned the government\u2019s casino policy, alleging that permissions were being granted without adequate scrutiny and transparency. He further questioned whether revenues generated in Goa were genuinely benefiting Goans or being diverted outside the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shri Khera said that the forthcoming Assembly elections would provide the people of Goa with an opportunity to evaluate the BJP\u2019s 15-year record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople come to Goa to take everything from Goa, but they do not want to give anything back. But this time, Goa will not remain silent. Goa will not be treated as a resource to be exploited. Goa belongs to Goenkars, and the people of Goa will decide who gets their votes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the Congress stands for a safe, environmentally protected, employment-oriented, drug-free and people-centric Goa, where development benefits Goans rather than vested interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Goa Khabar: Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Shri Pawan Khera today accused the BJP government of systematically compromising Goa\u2019s land, rivers, coastline, environment, employment opportunities and public safety, asserting that 15 years of BJP rule have come at a heavy cost to the people of Goa. Addressing a press conference in Panaji during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25169,"featured_media":115695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[155,6],"tags":[3794,38],"class_list":["post-115694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-155","category-6","tag-featured","tag-goa"],"read":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115694","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=115694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115697,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115694\/revisions\/115697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/115695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/06.10.2026.png\")
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