How the protest over Section 39A unfolded in Panjim

Saturday, 21 February 2026 might have been just another ordinary day in Goa had it not been for Section 39A of the TCP, which was in the eye of the storm. That morning, protests at the TCP office spiraled into a dramatic situation.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Villagers from Palem-Siridao, led by St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar, staged an overnight sit-in at the Town & Country Planning (TCP) office, at Patto, Panjim, protesting against land conversions approved by the TCP.
The next morning, the protesters entered the building, singing and chanting slogans in a charged atmosphere. But soon, things took an ugly turn when police grabbed hold of MLA Borkar, manhandled him as they physically dragged him down the stairs and forcefully evicted him out of the building, leaving him unconscious in the bargain.
Such undignified treatment of an MLA, amounting to breach of privilege, led to demands for the suspension of the police personnel involved.
By afternoon of the same day, the protesters were joined by Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao, RGP’s Manoj Parab, Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas and other politicians as they headed towards Azad Maidan, in Panjim, and Borkar vowed to go on a hunger strike till the controversial Section 39A was scrapped.
By Sunday evening, Ajay Kholkar from Chimbel, announced the ‘Karo ya Maro’ agitation.
The next five days were marked with high drama, accusations, angry protesters outside TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane’s house, the Opposition meeting the governor and demanding the immediate scrapping of 39A, police transfers, false FIRs against protesters, and the eventual end of Borkar’s hunger strike.

VISHWAJIT RANE’S INDIFFERENT RESPONSE
On Saturday, when questioned by media about the protest, Vishwajit Rane coldly replied, "I will not take cognizance of the agitation going on at the TCP head office in Panjim. They are all ‘blackmailers’. Let them sleep there day and night."
As if that was not enough, Rane later added, “I need just one night. I can bring 40,000 people from Sattari and completely block Panaji!"

NOTED PERSONALITIES WHO TURNED UP AT THE VENUE
Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao, Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas, Goa Forward Party president and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa, RGP’s Manoj Parab, Congress leader Sunil Kawthankar, AAP State President Valmiki Naik, AAP’s Francis Coelho, Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira, Goa Freedom Fighters Association president Rohidas (Daad) Dessai, activitist Dr Oscar Rebello, AAP’s Pratima Coutinho, former Forest Minister Alina Saldanha, former bureaucrat Elvis Gomes, national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party Arvind Kejriwal, environmentalist Claude Alvares and Padma Shri Norma Alvares were among the noted personalities who were seen at the venue during the past week, supporting the agitation.
Others who were vocal in condemning Section 39A were senior INC leader Manikrao Thakare, NCP state president Jose Philip D’Souza, former AAP leader Adv Amit Palekar, and Adv Seoula Vas.

PROTESTERS MARCH TO VISHWAJIT RANE’S DONA PAULA RESIDENCE
Following a meeting at Azad Maidan on Monday evening, protesters resolved to march to Dona Paula and demonstrate outside Vishwajit Rane’s bungalow.
Charged with emotion and determination, they travelled by vehicles and on foot, navigating alternate routes and possible shortcuts to bypass police blockades. Slogans rang out through the evening as the group pressed ahead, reflecting both anger and resolve.
North Goa Collector, Ankit Yadav, also headed to Dona Paula to take stock of the situation unfolding there.
After spending a couple of hours there, at around 12.30 am, the protesters returned to Azad Maidan. The situation grew tense when concerns emerged over Viresh Borkar’s condition amid the agitation. He was taken to hospital around 1 am, adding a note of anxiety to an already intense and emotionally fraught night.

CM BREAKS SILENCE, RAPS OPPOSITION
After maintaining silence for several days, on Monday evening, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant finally addressed a press conference at around 7 pm, strongly reacting to the developments. In a firm statement, he said the “first mistake” was that Yuri Alemao had supported the protesters’ move to march to Rane’s bungalow, calling it inappropriate and unacceptable.
The CM said that protests are permitted, but urged demonstrators not to intrude on ministers’ privacy, adding that the agitation had taken a wrong turn.
“You cannot go to someone’s personal residence and hold a morcha there,” the Chief Minister further asserted, his remarks reflecting clear displeasure over the turn of events. He further alleged that the Opposition’s support for the protest was irresponsible, accusing Yuri Alemao of backing a move that escalated tensions and crossed established boundaries.
On Tuesday, the Chief Minister appealed to the protesters to end their agitation and called on the St Andre MLA to withdraw his indefinite hunger strike.
Amid the ongoing stalemate over Section 39A, Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane, along with Chief Town Planner Vertika Dagur, were seen at the CM’s official residence at Altinho late on Tuesday night. Rane refused to comment post the meeting and instead advised the media to go home and sleep.
Later, on Wednesday, the Town & Country Planning Department (TCP) filed a complaint at the Panaji Police Station after it allegedly found some files to be missing from its office after the agitators protested at its office earlier in the week.
The same day, Sawant warned that strict action would be taken against protesters who marched to the residence of the TCP Minister and allegedly attempted to vandalise his home and assault him.

CALL OF DUTY
The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting was convened on Wednesday, 25 February, under the chairmanship of Speaker Ganesh Gaonkar. Viresh Borkar, who was on an indefinite hunger strike, attended the meeting in a wheelchair.

DISCIPLINARY ACTION
The government moved swiftly to defuse mounting outrage, and by Tuesday, PI Vijay Kumar Chodankar and police constables Shubham Bhosale and Dhananjay Parab of the Panaji Police Station were transferred with immediate effect to the North District Reserve Line Force in Porvorim.

CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE
An FIR was filed against noted theatre personality Rajdeep Naik at the Valpoi Police Station on Tuesday for allegedly referring to the people of Sattari as “cattle,” triggering more tensions in an already tense atmosphere.
Naik, however, strongly refuted the allegation, clarifying that he never called the people of Sattari “cattle.” He stated that his remarks were directed at questioning whether the TCP Minister viewed them as “cattle” — as people who could simply be “rounded up and brought to Panjim” at will.
Naik was referring to a statement made by Vishwajit Rane on Saturday (21 February), the first day of the agitation, during which the minister had said, “I need just one night. I can bring 40,000 people from Sattari and completely block Panaji.” 

HUNGER STRIKE CALLED OFF, FIGHT TO CONTINUE
Initially, the Chief Minister stated that the government was prepared to keep the controversial 39A proposal in abeyance. However, Viresh Borkar remained firm, insisting that the provision be revoked entirely rather than merely be put on hold.
On Thursday, North Goa Collector Ankit Yadav met Viresh Borkar and appealed to him to end his hunger strike. Yadav also handed him a letter from the Chief Town Planner Vertika Dagur confirming that all zone change approvals in Palem-Siridao had been suspended.
Borkar rejected the offer, demanding that the government clarify the meaning of ‘suspension of approvals’. Later, Yadav returned to Azad Maidan, presenting the same order on the TCP department’s letterhead.
Borkar then reached out to noted activists, and directors of Goa Foundation, Claude and Norma Alvares, for legal advice on the matter. On Thursday evening, when they visited him, they urged him to call off the fast, assuring him that the fight was far from over, and that the battle could be pursued through the court or raised in the Assembly.
Borkar and Gawas finally called off their hunger strike late Thursday night after official confirmation that all provisional and final land conversion proposals under Section 39A had been suspended with immediate effect.
However, despite the Chief Minister’s assurance that no legal action would be taken if Borkar ended his hunger strike, the irony is that several activists, NGO members, and political leaders have been summoned to appear today at police stations in Dona Paula and Taleigao for protesting outside TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane’s residence!