MARGAO
Capping her two-day visit to the State, after an interaction with party leaders, including MLAs, defeated candidates and office-bearers, the AICC observer Rajini Patil on Thursday said she would submit her report to the Congress party president the reasons behind the party debacle in Goa, and the views of the partymen over the appointment of the new GPCC chief and Leader of the Opposition.
Before leaving the State, the AICC observer had a one-on-one meetings separately with outgoing Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief Girish Chodankar and ex-Opposition Leader Digambar Kamat at the South Goa district Congress office post-lunch session.
Drafted by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to assess the reasons behind the party debacle in Goa and gather views of the party on Girish Chodankar’s successor and the new Opposition Leader, Patil did not agree with the remarks made by Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai that the opposition could not capitalise on the anti-BJP sentiment due to mismanagement by the Congress. “I cannot react on what Sardesai says and thinks because we have tried our level best to win the mandate of the people. Everybody has fought the battle. We cannot expect the comments made by Sardesai,” she said.
“The atmosphere in Goa in the run up to the polls was anti-BJP. I could see the mood of the people. We, however, did not anticipate a division of the secular vote, which has ensured the party’s defeat,” she said.
While conceding that she was the chairperson of the Congress screening committee on selection of candidates, Patil said, “It was not a failure of the party to win the election since she was sure that the people of Goa would vote for the secular party before the vote got divided.”
Saying her agenda in the State is to assess the situation post-results and submit a ground report to the party leader, the AICC observer said she has been gathering information since Wednesday. “Yesterday, I met the elected MLAs and party leaders, including State office bearers to obtain their views on the party defeat, the question over the new GPCC president and appointment of the new Leader of the Opposition,” she said.
On the new GPCC chief and Opposition, Patil said she would take the reports to Delhi and place them before the Congress president to take a call on the new appointments.
