MAPUSA
When Congress workers from Siolim unanimously demanded that the party should declare the candidate in advance to get pole position in the ensuing Assembly polls, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram put the ball in the court of the workers asking the block to decide on the candidate.
“We are not going to impose the candidate on you. All election-related decisions will be taken by the active members of the party. You will decide who will be the candidate in your constituency,” said Chidambaram, who is the AICC election observer for Goa.
The senior Congress leader and former union finance minister was attending a Congress workers meeting of Siolim block Congress along with Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, GPCC President Girish Chodankar and other senior leaders.
Speaking further, Chidambaram said the task before him was to strengthen the party with a focus to win the forthcoming elections.
He said he was aware that Congress workers were “deeply ashamed” and “humiliated” when first three members and then 10 others defected from the party.
“We will forgive them but we will not forget the betrayal. They will never have a place in the Congress party in future. We have to put that chapter behind us and move ahead,” he said.
He also said that the candidate never wins an election but it’s the workers and that party that ensures the victory of the candidate.
He also touched on the issue of rising fuel and commodity prices, growing unemployment, environmental degradation etc.
“All this has to change. And you need to bring this change. You changed it the last time, but the party failed you. I apologise for that. I am deeply sorry. We will see that it will never happen again,” he said.
Earlier, the Congress workers told the leadership that they were ready to work for the party and give their best but appealed to them to declare the candidate in advance.
“There is a lot of love for the Congress party and that is why we are here. Till today, no Congress candidate has won from Siolim. The problem is that the candidate is announced at the last minute,” a worker said.
Incidentally, this time around, there are six aspirants for a Congress ticket in the Siolim constituency.
Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Rao, Leader of Opposition, Digambar Kamat, South Goa MP, Francisco Sardinha and other leaders also spoke.
