MAPUSA
Member of Parliament and All India Congress Committee (AICC) observer Rajani Patel on Wednesday said that a conspiracy of divide and rule by the BJP and the division of the secular votes led to the defeat of Congress in the assembly election in the State.
Patel also admitted that Congress had miscalculated the election outcome in the State.
“There was a big conspiracy of divide and rule by the BJP. This led to secular votes getting divided while the BJP votes remained intact,” Patel said, while analyzing the defeat of Congress in the recent assembly polls.
“There was also a miscalculation from our side. Everyone was expecting that Congress would win the election in Goa. It’s sad that in spite of the anti-incumbency against the government, we could not capitalize,” she added.
The AICC observer has been holding a review meeting with all the elected MLAs, candidates and PCC leaders of North Goa at the Mapusa office after the party’s recent debacle in the assembly polls.
Speaking further, Patil said that other smaller parties nibbled into the Congress vote-share which cost the party dearly.
“TMC, AAP and all others ate into our votes. In many areas, our candidates have lost by a very thin margin,” she said.
When questioned whether there was any possibility for Congress to form the government as suggested by some of its leaders in the State, she said, “Anything is possible.”
“In politics everything is possible. All impossibilities are possible and all possibilities are impossible,” she said.
Patil informed that Congress central leadership will decide on the election of new GPCC president in the State.
“I will listen to the Congress cadre and submit the report to the leadership. They will take an appropriate decision,” she said.
Girish Chodankar had resigned as the GPCC chief soon after Congress suffered reverses in the assembly elections.
The AICC observer further informed that the elected legislators will choose the leader of the Congress Legislature Party.
“CLP leadership is always decided by the MLAs. My meeting is not to choose the CLP leader,” she said.
She said Congress will take steps to make the party organization stronger and will once again bounce back.
“We will definitely contest the panchayat election. For that, we need to develop booth level organization. That is why we are now more interested to make the organization stronger,” she said.
