Ponda (Goa), Jan. 30 (PTI): Launching the Bharatiya Janata Party's election campaign in Goa, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said people of the state need to choose between BJP's "golden Goa" and Congress's "Gandhi parivar ka Goa", and asserted that only the BJP can provide political stability for development of the coastal state.
Shah was addressing an indoor public meeting here, about 30 kms from state capital Panaji, to campaign for a BJP candidate ahead of the February 14 Assembly polls.
"Congress's Gandhi parivar treats Goa as its tourist destination. They come here often. But as for BJP, we are fulfilling (late Goa chief minister) Manohar Parrikar's 'golden Goa' dreams. People of Goa need to choose between BJP's 'golden Goa' and Congress's 'Gandhi parivar ka Goa'," Shah said.
Hitting out at the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for contesting the next month's Goa elections, Shah said these parties have entered the fray just to expand their base or get national recognition.
"These parties cannot form a government here. It is only the BJP that can do so. Unless there is political stability, there can be no development," he asserted.
In the last decade, the BJP government in Goa has worked for development of infrastructure and it cannot happen without the central government's help, he added.
Slamming the Congress and the party's former Goa chief minister Digambar kamat, Shah said during Kamat's tenure, Goa was notorious for corruption, instability and chaos.
He also targeted senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that he suffered from "Modi-phobia".
The Union minister said that for the Modi government, development of smaller states is a priority and it has provided all help to the coastal state.
Shah was campaigning for party candidate and former Goa CM Ravi Naik, who had recently joined the BJP after quitting the Congress.