Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced senior advocate Amit Palekar as its chief ministerial face for Goa ahead of the upcoming elections.
Palekar belongs to the Bhandari community in Goa, which is one of the largest voter bases in the coastal state. Incidentally, last year, the Bhandari Samaj in Goa had made it clear that it would extend its support to any political party that would declare its chief ministerial candidate from its community.
With Palekar now being proposed as its CM face, the AAP has played a strategic move to woo the Bhandari community.
When Palekar joined AAP on October 21, 2021, he said the party’s ideology was very similar to what he believed in and hence, it wasn’t very difficult to join forces. Though Palekar claims he doesn’t hail from a political background, his mother has been the sarpanch of Merces village for 10 years.
After joining AAP, Palekar came into the limelight when he went on an indefinite hunger strike at Old Goa, an important heritage and sacred site, in whose close vicinity an alleged illegal construction was going on sans permission.
The UNESCO World Heritage site houses several churches in the vicinity and had attracted backlash from people of all faiths. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had then tweeted: “Really proud of you Amit for standing against those who trying to destroy Goa. You are risking your life to save Old Goa. I’ll pray for you and thousands of other people who are fighting to save the Old Goa heritage site.”
Palekar continued his hunger strike till the local panchayat revoked all alleged illegal permissions granted to the construction though the structure is yet to be demolished. Palekar’s young daughter offering a glass of water to her father as he broke his fast was an instant hit all over, with the AAP considering it the first major win against the ruling BJP government.
Palekar, who hails from the St. Cruz constituency, recently tried exposing an alleged job recruitment scam at the state-run Goa Medical College (GMC) at Bambolim. He challenged Goa Health Minister and BJP leader Vishwajeet Rane to an open debate. Palekar alleged that almost ninety per cent of the job recruitments at the GMC were based on recruitment of incompetent staff, either via favouritism or bribery. This move too brought him significant attention.
Palekar was also one of the litigants who had approached the Bombay High Court (Goa Bench) when 47 people lost their lives due to an alleged short supply of oxygen during the second wave of Covid-19. Shortly after, the government was forced to intervene. He, along with a charitable organisation, donated 185 medical beds to the GMC.
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