PANAJI
Citing a statement attributed to political strategist Prashant Kishore, who is in Goa guiding the Trinamool Congress' election foray, the Congress has accused the Mamata Banerjee-led party of an agenda to divide secular votes and give mileage to the BJP.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Girish Chodankar has said that the statement by a TMC strategist that 'BJP is going nowhere' clearly exposes the agenda of the party and its chief Mamata Banerjee.
Chodankar recalled that time and again, he has been insisting that Home Minister Amit Shah and the Enforcement Directorate were behind the ‘operation Goa’ of TMC to divide secular votes and give mileage to BJP.
"The statement by TMC strategist that BJP is going to stay here for decades and it is not going anywhere, once again, confirms the agenda that the party has come here with the intention to divide votes," Chodankar said, adding that Prashant Kishore is not a politician nor he has any ideology.
"He can work for any ideology whoever hires him. His attack on Rahul Gandhi proves it all," Chodankar said at a function to inaugurate his party's office in Vasco which South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, Mahila Congress President Beena Naik, Block President Ularico Rodrigues, State Minority Department Chairman Nazir Khan and other leaders attended.
"TMC has not been able to get any serious leaders or cadres in the state despite only targeting only Congressmen. They have no presence in Goa. While on one side they are faking that they will form the next government, on the other hand, their strategist clearly admits that BJP cannot be defeated,” Chodankar said.
He said, Congress is the main opposition in the State and has resolved to wipe out BJP and all the other parties who have mushroomed here to help them.
Kishore, whose I-PAC has laid the groundwork for TMC's electoral foray in Goa, had reportedly said at an event in North Goa on Thursday: "The BJP is going to be in the centre of Indian politics, whether they win, whether they lose - like it was for the first 40 years for the Congress. The BJP is going nowhere. Once you secure 30% vote at the India level, you are not going away in a hurry.”
He also purportedly criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for failing to understand this reality of Modi's and BJP's strengths.
