MARGAO
On the eve of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge’s visit to Goa on Monday, Goa Forward Party (GFP) chief Vijai Sardesai said on Sunday that people in the State were convinced that the Congress would “do a hat-trick in defections”.
Sardesai said the GFP would reach out to the people of Goa to restore their confidence that the Opposition was serious about defeating the BJP-led government in the State.
Speaking to the media, Sardesai said Kharge’s visit to Goa was an internal matter of the Congress, as he was coming to the State to attend a meeting with booth-level workers.
“Be it Kharge or KC Venugopal, they have come to Goa to strengthen the Congress party. Their intention is to strengthen the party in all 40 blocks. Our intention is to strengthen our regional party across the State,” he said.
Asked whether there could be talks between the GFP and the Congress leadership, Sardesai said there was “nothing left to talk about”, accusing the Congress of going back on its word.
“When the time comes, we will disclose everything to the people of Goa, including the extent to which we had gone to interact with the Congress. Right now, I belong to the Goa Forward Party and the party has taken a decision not to talk to the Congress,” he said.
Sardesai also said
alliance talks could not be conducted through announcements in the media. “At the moment, there are no alliance talks with the Congress or anybody else. Yesterday, we celebrated Independence Day and everybody is now independent,” he said.
