PANAJI
The Congress has faith in its new and young leadership, which, All India Congress Committee (AICC) official Dinesh Gundu Rao said, will play the role of a responsible opposition, even as he said that the ruling BJP both in Goa and at the Centre was trying to divert popular attention from burning issues like joblessness and inflation by raising the “communal” pitch.
“There is joblessness, there is price rise, there is a lot of economic distress and the government, both central and state have actually failed in addressing these issues. So they are trying to divert these issues into other communal issues. But the real issues of the people are joblessness, economic growth and price rise,” the AICC official in-charge of Goa told reporters after a meeting of top party officials in Panaji.
“We have a new team, new leadership and a young leadership and we have to play a role as a responsible opposition party. We will take up issues of the youth,” Rao further said.
The former Karnataka Congress chief also said that the party would be taking panchayat elections seriously.
“We will be taking the panchayat elections very seriously and, of course, the parliamentary elections will be coming up so we are preparing for that. With this leadership that we have got now, there is a lot of cohesion within the party. Party workers and leaders, most of them have welcomed the new appointments,” he said.
Thirty-eight-year-old Patkar, who was also present at the meeting, also gave a breakdown of vote patterns in constituencies across the state, while stating that the party had its work cut out when it comes to reviving the outfit’s fortune in the coming years.
“In 26 constituencies, Congress vote-share is around 36.5 per cent. Our focus will be to hold on to these constituencies and strengthen them. Simultaneously, where our vote share is about 4.5 in 14 constituencies, the idea is to strengthen the party at booth level, getting more people on board,” Patkar said.
