Margao: President of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Girish Chodankar welcomed the Goa Forward Party’s (GFP) decision to revoke the suspension, paving the way for renewed discussions on an alliance.
“We were occupied with recent meetings, and the GFP’s revocation of the suspension occurred only recently. Talks regarding a grand alliance are likely to proceed now that the suspension has been lifted,” Chodankar said.
Speaking to the media after a briefing in Margao, Chodankaralso accused the BJP of planning to float dummy political outfits and revive defunct regional parties ahead of the upcoming elections to divide the electorate.
He alleged that “the BJP has substantial financial resources to buy politicians and launch dummy political parties. The state BJP leaders would also fund the revival of regional parties to divide the Goan vote and secure victory.”
“Nevertheless, Goans are wise and will reject such divisive politics,” he said, adding that the Congress would campaign by relying on the aspirations of the people. His remarks were directed at the United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP) following former minister Francisco Xavier Pacheco’s announcement on Sunday that the party would be revived. Pacheco had also said efforts would be made to retain the party symbol. The Election Commission of India had derecognised the UGDP as a regional party in January 2008 due to its poor performance in previous elections.
Chodankar also recalled attempts to form a new political entity, the Goa Congress Party, and said the move had not succeeded.
“The public is disillusioned with BJP governance. Their tactical manoeuvres will not prevail this time. Goans have witnessed the destruction of the state and its environment, alongside record levels of unemployment,” he said.
He also objected to AAP leaders criticising the Congress following a meeting addressed by national leader Rahul Gandhi in Margao, despite Gandhi not mentioning AAP in his address.
“While Gandhi criticised the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, AAP is targeting Gandhi. This is a development that Goan voters must consider seriously,”he said.
