MARGAO
The internal communication mechanism within the Congress has once again come back to haunt the party leadership, this time exposing differences within the party organisation.
Outgoing Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Patkar on Tuesday morning complained that he had not been invited by GPCC chief Girish Chodankar to the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting with Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge.
However, following the PAC meeting, Chodankar told the media that he had documentary evidence to establish that the invitation had indeed been sent to his predecessor on Monday.
“There’s no question of not inviting Amit Patkar for the PAC meeting. The responsibility of sending the invites was entrusted to Congress Working President M K Shaikh. I have found out from Shaikh and I am convinced that the message had indeed gone to Patkar from Shaikh’s mobile phone,” Chodankar said.
Shaikh is understood to have told the party leadership that he had sent messages inviting all members of the PAC to attend Tuesday’s meeting. “I had sent messages from my mobile phone to all the members. Based on the messages, all the invitees attended the meeting, barring Patkar,” Shaikh reportedly explained, maintaining that the meeting invitation had indeed been sent to Patkar.
The latest episode comes amid another communication-related controversy within the Opposition camp earlier this month. An invitation sent by Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao triggered a major row between the Congress and the Goa Forward Party after GFP president Vijai Sardesai denied receiving any invitation from Alemao to attend a meeting of Opposition MLAs.
The issue subsequently snowballed into a major controversy, culminating in the Goa Forward Party’s Political Affairs Committee deciding to suspend all alliance talks with the Congress.
The latest dispute over the PAC meeting invitation has once again brought the Congress party’s internal communication mechanism under scrutiny.
