the goan I network
PANAJI
Days after the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) took the decision not to contest the Zilla Panchayat elections on party lines, dissensions in the Opposition party surfaced in the open with several leaders, particularly the younger ones from the party organisation, expressing displeasure and their stiff opposition to the decision.
Many of the younger Congressmen, mostly drawn from the organization and known to be close to Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president, Girish Chodankar, felt that the strong anti-government sentiment currently visible in the State will benefit the party and the election should be fought officially on its symbol. Leaders of the actively working frontal organisations of the Congress in Goa such as the Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee, Goa Pradesh Youth Congress Committee and some members of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee held a meeting and deliberated on the issue, where the decision of the CLP was severely criticised.
“The party leaders are of the opinion that the election should be fought by the Congress on party lines”, GPCC General Secretary Sankalp Amonkar said.
“The GPCC Executive Committee had decided that they will field candidates for the ZP election. After that, the party organization had even started mobilizing supporters in various places,” Amonkar said.
At the meeting, many voiced the opinion that the CLP has taken the decision not to contest the polls on the party symbol, without consulting the party organization.
“But we will demand with the GPCC chief Girish Chodankar that the party contest the ZP election on party lines. This will help us revive our support base,” said Amonkar.
The State Election Commission had on Friday announced that the Zilla Panchayat elections will be held on March 22 and had notified 31 of the 50 ZP seats in the two districts as reserved constituencies for various categories.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile is gearing up to contest the elections officially, although it has come under severe criticism from the Opposition, including the Congress, the Goa Forward Party and others of manipulating the election process by influencing the State Election Commission and fixing the reservation of constituencies to suit itself.
