MARGAO
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday hit back at Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar over his claim that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is not serious about forging an alliance with the principal Opposition party.
AAP Goa working president Gerson Gomes alleged that it is, in fact, Chodankar who is unwilling to pursue an alliance because he is not interested in defeating the BJP.
Gomes said that AAP leaders, led by state president Valmiki Naik, had met Chodankar in Benaulim when the Joint Parliamentary Committee visited Goa to seek feedback from political parties on the proposed "One Nation, One Election" initiative.
"During that meeting, Chodankar asked us how the two parties should proceed to forge an alliance. We requested him to give us a day for a formal meeting to discuss the proposal. However, till date, we have not heard anything from him," Gomes said.
He further claimed that while the Congress president has been in touch with AAP's state president over the phone, he has not fixed a meeting to discuss the alliance.
"Chodankar says AAP is strengthening its base in Cuncolim and Quepem. We would like to remind him that the Congress has opened party offices in Benaulim and Velim, and we never objected to that," Gomes said.
Maintaining that several Congress MLAs and party leaders are in favour of an alliance with AAP, Gomes alleged that Chodankar alone is opposed to the move.
"We have constituted a three-member committee to hold discussions with the Congress on a possible alliance. So far, the Congress has not shown any interest in meeting us. This clearly indicates that Chodankar is not interested in defeating the BJP in Goa," he asserted.
He lamented that Congress is working against an united opposition in Goa.
