CANACONA
Downplaying the revolt by former GPCC secretary Mahadev Dessai and most block members on Friday, Congress candidate for Canacona constituency Janardhan Bhandari said the Congress and its alliance partner, the Goa Forward Party, would work together with the sole aim of defeating BJP and winning in Canacona.
Bhandari was addressing a news conference in the presence of Goa Forward leader Prashant Naik at Chaudi-Canacona.
Bhandari said he had been loyal to the Congress since the last 30 years and did not ditch the party unlike others.
“I have received very good support when I visited voters in all areas, after the party ticket was granted to me. The Congress and GFP will work together with the sole aim to defeat BJP and to win in Canacona,” said Bhandari.
Naik said the GFP was strongly rallying behind Bhandari and was confident that the Congress-GFP alliance would win with a margin of 3,000-5,000 votes. “We at Goa Forward had already covered 70-75% of the constituency and now, we will cover the remaining area jointly with Bhandari,” said Naik.
Congress Block President Prahlay Bhagat said the block is still strong and was confident that Dessai would return to the party. “Not all who claimed to have joined the TMC have actually left the Congress,” said Bhagat.
Prahlay added that all booth leaders of the Congress party are intact and have become even stronger with the support of GFP.
Others who spoke at the news conference included Goa Forward leaders Vikas Bhagat and Remy Borges, Canacona Youth Congress Block President Vaishnav Pednekar and Congress Mahila Block President Ursila Costa.
