PANAJI
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president, Girish Chodankar on Wednesday said the beleaguered Opposition party will pit a majority of 'new faces' in the 2022 assembly elections, seemingly upping the ante against the 'old guard' in his party who have of late been gunning for him.
"We will field 70 to 80 per cent new faces in the upcoming elections," Chodankar said at a press conference he addressed at the party headquarters in the capital.
Just two days ago, South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha had called for the removal of Chodankar as State party chief to arrest the downslide.
Elections to the 40-member Goa legislative assembly are due in early 2022 and the principal Opposition party has seen a series of desertions under Chodankar's watch with as many as 13 of its 17 MLAs elected in the 2017 general election quitting.
The party currently has just five legislators in the current Assembly.
Chodankar meanwhile is perceived to be prodding a younger set of partymen but a series of electoral setbacks both at by-elections to fill assembly vacancies as well as the recent Zilla panchayat and municipal elections have only sharpened the knives pointed at him by seniors.
On Wednesday when asked for his response to Sardinha's demand for his head owing to poor performance by the party in the recently concluded Zilla panchayat and municipal polls, Chodankar however played down the tussle saying: "We have to show respect to the elders in the family and listen to them."
