PANAJI
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Goa Gundu Rao on Sunday said the party High Command has given a mandate to strike alliances with like-minded parties and groups to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2022 elections.
Addressing a press conference in the capital city Rao said the party has been talking to various leaders but did not name any parties with whom an alliance is likely.
Rao also hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and accused them of having the same agenda of dividing the secular vote.
Flanked by GPCC president Girish Chodankar and Opposition Leader Digambar Kamat, he said, the AAP and TMC were encroaching on Congress workers and aspirants with offers of up to Rs 10 crore.
"They are meeting our workers and aspirants in various constituencies and saying we will give you Rs 10 crores, Rs 5 crores, Rs 1 crore. Some they are offering 25 lakh," Rao alleged responding to questions on reports that the party faces prospects of more desertions after the switch to TMC by its senior leader Luizinho Faleiro.
The Congress Goa desk in-charge said the party will work towards building a viable alliance in the interest of Goa and forming a government which will work for the development of Goa.
The change in tact by the Congress comes after the party suffered a setback when Faleiro quit his membership of the Goa legislative assembly and later joined the TMC last week, further reducing the party legislative strength to four.
Over the last couple of days, reports are doing the rounds that its Curtorim legislator Aleixo Reginald Lourenco, who is miffed with the party leadership for long may also leave.
Interestingly, overtures by Goa Forward Party (GFP) supremo Vijai Sardesai, for an alliance of Opposition parties had in the past consistently been snubbed by Chodankar and the Congress.
Earlier in the day, AICC spokesperson Dr Shama Mohamed also address the media wherein she lashed out at the Centre for what she alleged was promoting the narcotics mafia, citing the recent haul of heroine at a Gujarat port.
Alleging that the contraband was being smuggled from Afghanistan which is currently controlled by a terrorist organisation, Mohamed said it has the potential to criminalise the youth and questioned why the Centre failed to take any strong steps against the mafia.
