MAPUSA
North Goa District Congress President Vijay Bhike said the hard work put in by the karyakartas in the just concluded assembly elections will not go waste and Congress will storm to power when the results are declared on March 10.
Bhike also said that Congress will bag at least 13 to 14 seats in North Goa while overall the Congress-Goa Forward Party alliance will get 23 to 24 seats in the State.
“Congress party has stood by its assurance and fielded 80 percent new faces in this election. The people of Goa have refused to fall to the false promises of some new parties but supported candidates of Congress. We will get majority and form the government in the State,” Bhike said.
The North Goa District Congress chief was addressing a news conference along with Mapusa Block Congress President, Shashank Narvekar and others in the party office in Mapusa.
Speaking further, Bhike said the presence of other smaller parties will have no bearing on the prospects of Congress at the hustings.
“On the contrary, the presence of these smaller parties has benefited the Congress. People have realised that these smaller parties will only help BJP and therefore consolidated towards the Congress. We will get 13 to 14 seats in North Goa and our Congress-GFP alliance will bag 23 to 24 seats overall,” he said.
In 2017, Congress was the single largest party with 17 seats but the BJP with 13 seats went on to form the government with the support of GFP and MGP.
Valpoi MLA, Vishwajit Rane was first to quit Congress during that term and got re-elected on BJP symbol. Later, in 2019, 10 Congress MLAs defected from the grand old party and joined the BJP in the government led by Pramod Sawant. In the end, just before the 2022 assembly polls, Congress was left with just two MLAs.
“Our stand not to grant tickets to defectors and more importantly the effort put in by our karyakartas during the election will help us through. We will come to power on March 10,” Bhike said.
