GPCC revamp signals the party’s renewed push to reclaim political ground in Goa
A dictionary describes ‘overhaul’ as the process of thoroughly examining, disassembling, repairing and rebuilding a machine, system or process so as to restore it to peak operating condition. The latest modification in the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) is clearly an effort on the part of the Congress high command to put things in order for the forthcoming Assembly polls in the state.
The recent Congress order replacing Amit Patkar with Girish Chodankar as the GPCC president is an indication that the oldest political party in the country is gearing up to capture power in Goa in the 2027 Assembly election. Chodankar, who headed the party in the state during the 2022 Assembly election and handled the 2017 Assembly polls under the then GPCC chief Luizinho Faleiro, has been given the task of ensuring that the party regains power in the state in 2027. It is presumed that Chodankar’s recent negotiations, which facilitated Congress’ entry into the TVK-led government in Tamil Nadu, might have been behind his appointment as the new GPCC chief. However, one should also not forget that the number of seats won by Congress reduced to five in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls compared to 18 in the 2021 election.
Amit Patkar, who was appointed GPCC president after Congress reshuffled its state executive committees in states that had faced Assembly election defeat, did whatever he could to the best of his ability. The Congress candidate in the South Goa constituency for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Viriato Fernandes, got elected during Patkar’s tenure, and the party also performed well in the 2025 Zilla Panchayat polls. Unfortunately, Patkar never got a chance to lead the party in a state Assembly election. Underlining that public service goes beyond official party titles and positions, the outgoing GPCC president said that his fight for Goa would continue. He also said that the true strength of the movement lies not in titles or positions, but in the unwavering spirit of those who refuse to give up on Goa and its people.
Chodankar, who is widely regarded as a Rahul Gandhi loyalist with direct access to the Congress top brass, now has the difficult task of taking on the ruling BJP and its deep-rooted organisation. He told the media that the forthcoming monsoon season would be utilised to galvanise workers and strengthen the party’s organisational structure, including the formation of mandal committees in the state. Particularly in North Goa, where the party organisation is almost in disarray. The new GPCC chief also said that the Congress candidates for the Assembly polls would be declared early and that no defector would be given a Congress ticket. However, it remains to be clarified whether these defectors refer only to MLAs changing parties or to habitual political party hoppers. Finally, he intends to counter the poaching of Congress MLAs by ensuring that at least 21 of his candidates get elected in the election.
Some of these goals will be difficult to achieve, and Chodankar would be fully aware of that. He will need not only the backing of his GPCC colleagues like M K Shaikh, Altone D’Costa, Carlos Ferreira and Datta Naik, but also alliances with other non-BJP political parties and support from the public. Today, the BJP in Goa has acquired formidable strength, and the fact that it heads the government at the Centre with seasoned strategists makes Chodankar’s task even more difficult. Only time will tell who wins the race.
