PANAJI: Chimbel gram sabha in Tiswadi taluka on Sunday unanimously decided to boycott its MLA Rodolfo Fernandes for failing to attend discussions on important issues of the village.“The MLA has attended just a single gram sabha over the last four years,” said a member. “He should not be invited for any (panchayat) functions. The panchayat, too, should boycott his official events.”Rodolfo won the last assembly elections on a Congress ticket but later, along with seven others, switched over to BJP.The first-time legislator has plenty of goodwill in Chimbel, where he secured a majority. His mother, late Victoria Fernandes, a four-time Cong MLA and former minister, also bonded well with the villagers.With state assembly elections approaching, political fever is on the rise in the constituency, and Rodolfo’s absence from the gram sabha, despite an invitation, led to an uproar.Villagers said the MLA was invited by the panchayat for discussions on crucialissues of developmental work. When he didn’t show up, the villagers resolved to boycott him in the future.Local Ajit Kholkar, Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) treasurer, told reporters that the MLA had rushed to an event in Chimbel, barely 2km away.Another local said, Rodolfo inaugurated 12 projects in Santa Cruz constituency on the eve of his birthday, including one in Chimbel, but informed the panchayat about his inability to attend the gram sabha.Rodolfo turns 65 on Monday and will celebrate hisbirthday at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium.Meanwhile, Chimbel gram sabha unanimously opposed TCP’s land conversions under Section 39(A), as they all stood up to strongly demand that it be scrapped amidst shouting of slogans.Members also set a deadline to Goa Tourism Development Corporation to remove the fencing around Toyyar lake within seven days. If it fails to do so, they resolved to clear it themselves and urged the panchayat to recover the costs from the licence fee of Rs 1.5 crore for construction of Unity Mall.
