UP shadow will not touch Goa: Naidu

Panaji, May 20 (UNI) The election results of Uttar Pradesh will not cast a shadow on Goa which goes to polls on June two, BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu today said.

Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Naidu said the political situation in Goa is totally different from UP and here casteism does not play a big role.

Mr Naidu today reviewed party preparations for tomorrow's visit by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani who will launch the BJP's election campaign in the state.

Mr Naidu remarked that ''strange things'' are happening in the Goa Congress and the electorate will give a better judgement. On the ''strange things'', he cited the example of Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane who is contesting the elections on a Congress ticket from Poriem, while his son Vishwajit is contesting as an independent from neighbouring Valpoi.

''We will come to know who is real, independent, dependent or repentent only after the polls,'' he quipped.

BJP, on the other hand, has surged during the last five years and is faced with none of these problems, Mr Naidu claimed.

The BJP, Mr Naidu said, will seek the mandate of the electorate by highlighting the ability of its leader (Manohar Parrikar), stability, credibility, clarity and unity of the party on issues of governance, and on the need to preserve Goa's unique identity and culture. At the same time, the party will also tell the electorate about the mis-governance, corruption, and inflation that plagued the Congress regime, he said.

He claimed that under the BJP-led NDA regime at the Centre.

inflation was under control and there was no shortage of essential commodities as is the case at present under the UPA Government.

''It is a choice between a stable government by the BJP or an unstable and corruption-ridden Congress government,'' Mr Naidu said.

UNI