Goa would've been freed earlier had Sardar Patel lived longer, says PM Modi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 19

In a veiled attack against the Congress in the election-bound Goa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the state would have been liberated from the Portuguese rule much earlier had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel lived for some more time.

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The Prime Minister was speaking at an event to mark Goa’s Liberation Day, observed on December 19 every year to mark the day Indian armed forces freed the coastal state from the Portuguese rule in 1961.

“Had Sardar Patel been alive for a little more time, Goa would have been liberated earlier,” Modi noted.

Patel, who was the Deputy PM in the Nehru Cabinet, died on December 15, 1950. He is credited with the liberation of the Marathwada region in Maharashtra from the erstwhile Nizam’s rule.

Modi lauded freedom fighters, including those from outside Goa, who fought for the state’s freedom. “When India got Independence, they still continued the fight to liberate Goa. They ensured that the struggle to liberate Goa did not end after India’s Independence,” he said.

The PM congratulated the Goa Government for leading in parameters of good governance. The state had topped on parameters such as per capita income, exclusive toilet facility for girls in schools, tap water in every household, door-to-door waste collection and food security, he said.

Modi also remembered former Goa Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar, saying he understood the potential of the state and nurtured it for people’s welfare.

During the event, Modi felicitated freedom fighters and veterans of Operation Vijay undertaken by the Indian armed forces to liberate Goa.

He added, “Goa came under the Portuguese rule when a major part of the country was ruled by Mughals, but centuries later, neither has Goa forgotten its Indian moorings nor has India forgotten Goa.”