Indian Constitution thrusted on Goa after inclusion, claims Cong candidate

GOP’s South Goa nominee recalls discussion on dual citizenship with Rahul

PANAJI: Congress’s South Goa candidate Viriato Fernandes has claimed the Indian Constitution was forced on Goa after its liberation from the Portuguese rule in 1961.

As his comments drew criticism from Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Fernandes said his words should not be twisted for political mileage and he was ready for a debate on his statement as well as on issues like “destruction of Goa’s identity”, unemployment, inflation, crime and corruption.

Addressing an election meeting in South Goa on Monday, Fernandes recalled that thenPrime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said Goa, which became a state in 1987, will decide its own destiny, but added “this did not happen”.

Referring to his conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Fernandes said he had told him, “When Goa was liberated in the year 1961, the Indian Constitution was forced upon us.” Fernandes was then part of an NGO, ‘Goencho Away’, which was pressing for dual citizenship for Goans who have opted for Portuguese passports. “We (during a meeting with Gandhi in a hotel near Panaji) raised 12 demands before Gandhi, and one of them was about dual citizenship. Gandhi asked me whether the demand was constitutional. We said no,” he told the gathering.

He said the Congress MP told them the demand would not be considered if it was not constitutional. “I explained to him that the Indian Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950. When Goa was liberated from the Portuguese rule in 1961, you (referring to then central government) forced the Constitution on us. We were not included in it,” he said. He said he recalled a speech of Nehru in which he said that post-liberation Goa will decide its own destiny. “But our destiny was decided by someone else,” he opined.