`Fledgling AAP in Goa should take up development plan issue'

PANAJI: Regional development plan is foremost among the issues that veteran social activist Oscar Rebello wants the Aam Admi Party to take up, as it takes root in Goa.

Rebello and pop singer Remo Fernandes joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party two days ago.

"This (regional plan) is the first issue that AAP should take up in Goa," he said.

Rebello spearheaded a massive agitation demanding scrapping of the draft plan prepared by an earlier Congress government. That plan, perceived to be potentially damaging for the fragile ecosystem of the coastal state, was later scrapped.

However, there is no alternative plan in place. There was a regime change in 2012 when BJP, led by Manohar Parrikar, ousted the Congress from power. However, the new government did not address the issue despite the election-time promise, Rebello said.

People on the street now place faith in AAP -- which recently took power in the national capital -- as there is no other political alternative, he said. "These issues (on which the recent agitations in Goa centred) concerned the common man. They may be related to environment, regional plan or any other (subject)," said Rebello.