PANAJI
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) while outrightly rejecting the possibility of any alliance with the Congress for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Goa has said the Congress, having realized that they have become redundant in Goa, are now trying to latch on to AAP, a party they had previously accused of being the “B team of BJP”.
Reacting to Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President (GPCC) Girish Chodankar’s statement that the Congress cannot align with parties that helped BJP form the government in Goa and hence are open to an alliance with AAP, AAP Goa convener Rahul Mhambre retorted, “How can AAP even consider an alliance with the Congress which has been a foster mother to the BJP having supplied nearly 200 of its MLAs to them?”
Thanking Chodankar for giving AAP a certificate that it is the only party fighting the BJP everywhere, be it the Lok Sabha or state assemblies, Mhambre said that he was glad that the Congress has realized the reality now which people of Goa had known for quite some time now and said AAP is the “A team to oppose BJP”.
He pointed out that currently two sons of a Congress MLA have joined the BJP while the son of another prominent Congress MLA is a minister in the BJP government having joined that party and while pointing out that till date not a single MLA of AAP has defected. He said his party cannot align with a party that has constantly been provided elected representatives to the BJP.
Mhambre said the Congress is in alliance with the BJP in Goa given the fact that many of the present legislators were earlier MLAs of the Congress and said both the Congress and BJP are thoroughly corrupt and Goa needs a clean and honest party now.
“It is a known fact that whenever Congress has formed an alliance, it has been the reason why the alliance has failed. Why should AAP align with a party that has such a bad history?,” Mhambre demanded while asserting that Chodankar is just playing a gimmick to save the presidentship of GPCC for himself.
Mhambre pointed out that, in Delhi, it was his party that ousted the Congress government of Sheila Dixit and said there was no way AAP could align with the Congress in Goa or for that matter anywhere in the country.
He said Chodankar’s statement is an admission of the fact that the next elections in Goa will be between the BJP and AAP with Congress having no role to play. “In a way Girish has admitted the total loss of Congress in Goa and that AAP is the only hope for Goans,” he said.
Can't trust any party associated with BJP in the past, says Girish
PANAJI: Congress president Girish Chodankar in an interview with Prudent Media aired on Friday stated that the Congress is open for an alliance with the AAP during the upcoming Goa Assembly polls.
“Political parties which have never comprised with the BJP. If the AAP’s intentions of defeating the BJP are clear and they come forward, Congress should be open for an alliance,” Chodankar stated.
