Will Raise ‘Go Back Modi’ Slogans if PM doesn’t meet us – Ivan D’Souza
Mangaluru: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to Mangalore on April 13th. This district’s National Bank – Vijaya Bank, has been merged with the Bank of Baroda. The people of this district are outraged over this issue. We had pleaded to Nalin Kumar Kateel to save Vijaya Bank from this merger by taking up the issue in Parliament. He had said that it was a national issue and that negotiations were still going on. Now, Prime Minister Modi is coming to Mangaluru. We are asking him for an opportunity to talk to him about this issue. If that opportunity is denied, we will hold a protest raising ‘Go Back Modi’ slogans”, said Congress MLC and Parliamentary Secretary Ivan D’Souza in a press meet held at the DCC Office, Mallikatta here, on April 11.
Addressing the mediapersons Ivan D’Souza said, “We are asking Modi to meet us and listen to our issues. We are trying to save Vijaya Bank from this merger. We are asking them to at least retain the name of Vijaya Bank after the merger. Secondly, Narendra Modi has carried out massive corruption in the name of this nation’s defence system. “The Hindu” had taken up this issue in a significant way and published many documents related to it. The BJP had said that this information was wrong and that Modi had done nothing wrong. They had argued in front of the Supreme Court that these documents were inadmissible. They did this so that Narendra Modi could avoid legal complications. Yesterday, April 10 the Supreme Court said that secondary evidence can be considered and the case has to be reinvestigated. The Supreme Court has also upheld the freedom of the press.”
He further said, “In our opinion, this is a black and white decision. First, Narendra Modi had carried out parallel negotiations which were wrong. Secondly, he gave a Rs 56,000 crore tender to a 10-day old company. He took away the tender from HAL and gave it to his friend Anil Ambani in order to help him. Narendra Modi has done this to obtain some kind of illegal gratification. This Chowkidar has tried to fool the people. In this district, there is an undercurrent of people who say that they don’t want Modi this time.”
In response to a question about whether permission has been granted for the protest, Ivan D’Souza said, “The District Administrator has to give permission. Modi may be India’s Prime Minister but when he comes to the district, the district officials are supreme. We are first asking for a meeting with the Prime Minister. If he doesn’t meet us, we will protest with the slogan ‘Go Back Modi’. The protest will be held at the Hampankatta Circle”.
