PANAJI
Consciously using war terminology to describe the Congress' resurgence in Goa, former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said that the Opposition party will be "battle-ready" for the 2022 assembly polls and each constituency would be led by a party "commander" each into electoral war.
Commenting on the disenchantment of the Goan voter, about the series of party switchovers by Congress MLAs in the recent past, Chidambaram also said that the anti-defection law had in fact become a "very defective law", exploited to the hilt by the ruling dispensation.
"The task before us is to get the party battle-ready for the elections early next year. My initial assessment is that the political atmosphere is extremely favourable to the Congress party. By all accounts, including accounts which I read in the media, there is an expectation that there will be a change in government and a new government led by the Congress will be formed after the elections," said Chidambaram, who was recently appointed as the Congress's senior observer for the upcoming polls.
"If that is the expectation of the people of Goa, I want to assure the people of Goa that we will not disappoint you. We will get the party ready for elections and we will present to the people of Goa a set of candidates who will be loyal, faithful to the ideology hardworking and will serve the interests of the people of Goa," Chidambaram said, adding that he was absolutely certain that the Congress would find many more candidates than the party can accommodate who will fulfill "these qualities and fulfill the aspirations of the people of Goa".
"In 40 constituencies we will have 40 commanders leading the battle," the former Union Finance Minister also said.
Chidambaram also said that his mandate was not to tinker with leadership, when asked about the possibility of replacing state Congress president Girish Chodankar, while also adding that the issue of an alliance with other political parties would be discussed at an "appropriate time".
When asked about the disenchantment of the Goan voter, over the series of desertions by Congress MLAs, Chidambaram said: "A disappointed voter... yes, when a Congress candidate crosses over he's disappointed, but the last four and a half years he's even disappointed with the performance of the present government. He's even more disappointed with the failure of the present government".
"That voter is our natural voter and we only have to assure him and I'm assuring him now that we will present a set of candidates who are loyal, who are faithful to the ideologies of the party and who will serve the interest of the people of Goa," Chidambaram said.
Commenting on the current status of the anti-defection law, which has failed to stem the rising tide of defections in Indian and Goan polity, Chidambaram, who is also regarded as an ace lawyer said: "The anti-defection law has now become a very defective law".
