By IANS,
Panaji : President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are among the names shotlisted for delivering a midnight speech – a la Jawaharlal Nehru – on the 50th anniversary of the Goa liberation Dec 19, an official said Sunday.
The name of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, 41, has also been shortlisted, much to the disappointment of opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“Rahul Gandhi was not even born when Goa was liberated from 450 years of Portuguese rule. He is just like any of the 700 odd MPs in parliament,” BJP spokesperson Govind Parvatkar told IANS.
Earlier in the day, Congress secretary in-charge of Goa Jagmeet Singh Brar announced the names shortlisted to deliver a 20 minute address at the state assembly when a special session of the house might be convened.
“The final name will be selected soon. It could be any one of them,” Brar said.
Rahul Gandhi’s great grandfather and former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had also delivered a memorable midnight address to the nation on Aug 15, 1947 when India was freed from British yoke.
The Congress official said that in celebration of the golden jubilee, the party would organise a padayatra across the state from Nov 14 — Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary — to Dec 9, the birthday of Sonia Gandhi.
“We are planning to put up a statue of Goan freedom fighter Purshottam Kakodkar (a former Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president) on the grounds around the parliament,” Brar said.
The possibility of Nehru’s great grandson addressing the legislative assembly raised the hackles BJP in Goa. Govind Parvatkar said the Gandhi scion had neither moral nor the constitutional authority to address the house on such a memorable occasion.
“The Congress thinks the country is their playground and Goa is that backyard. They are making Goa’s golden jubilee celebrations to be Congress celebrations,” he said.
Goa became one of the last states to join the Indian Union after it was liberated from Portuguese rule, following military action by Indian troops.