Congress govt never tried to liberate Goa post-Independence: Goa CM

Ahmedabad: The Congress didn't make any efforts to liberate Goa from the Portuguese when it was in power at the Centre, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday while taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

He said Goa was liberated 14 years after India became independent due to the joint struggle by freedom fighters from the region and other parts of the country.

"Goa was liberated in 1961. The people belonging to a party who are now taking out Bharat Jodo Yatra did not bother to make Goa a part of India and unite the country. Goa was left to fend for itself," the chief minister alleged while addressing a press conference in Ahmedabad as part of BJP's poll campaign ahead of the first phase of voting for the Gujarat Assembly elections.

Tuesday is the last day of campaigning for the first phase of polls. Voting for 89 out of the total 182 seats will be held on December 1 and for the remaining 93 constituencies on December 5.

"Thanks to freedom fighters of Goa and the country, Goa was finally liberated nearly 14 years after India's independence. Though Congress was in power at that time, they did not make any efforts to liberate Goa," Sawant said.

He said the progress made by the coastal state in the last eight years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "much better" than the development which took place in almost 50 years of the Congress rule.

"We would have progressed more had the Central government under Congress supported us before 2014. But, we didn't get any support," said Sawant.