PANAJI/OLD GOA
Toughening his stand against defectors, AICC Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao said that it is due to their betrayal that the people have lost faith in the party.
Stating that the Congress will not take defectors back in the party,
Rao said, “they have back stabbed us and the people of Goa," adding that they should be taught a lesson for their betrayal.
He appealed to the people of Goa to defeat them and asserted that even if they want to come back, the Congress will not take them.
"This virus has to end. How long will this kind of politics be tolerated in Goa?" Rao asked.
Since the 2017 elections, the Congress has suffered multiple instances of its legislators crossing over to the ruling BJP, the last of these in July 2019, when 10 of its 15 MLAs including its then Opposition Leader crossing over.
Earlier, Rao addressed members of the Cumbarjua Congress Block Committee at the residence of block president Vishal Volvoikar at Old Goa.
“When we select candidates we will select good people who will not change parties for their self benefits,” he said and informed that the opinion of the members of the block committees is important in choosing candidates.
“We want to understand the feelings of local workers as it helps in taking decisions,” Rao stated and said that this time around Congress has a good chance of returning to power.
GPCC president Girish Chodankar lauded the decision of Rao of visiting members of block committees.
“Normally AICC in-charge do not personally visit block members. But Rao has started a new trend of contacting people directly which shows that the party is serious,” Chodankar informed.
On choosing the candidate in Cumbarjua, Chodankar said that the block members have to decide the candidate. “We can only shortlist the candidates but the decision of choosing the candidate rests with the block committee,” he added.
Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat said that there’s a lot of anger among the people as many families have lost their near and dear ones due to the mismanagement.
Ramakant Khalap urged the members to ensure that Congress MLA is elected from Cumbarjua constituency to help Congress form government in the State.
Khalap also took a dig at the BJP government for making false promises of 10000 jobs and of doles. “Whenever elections come, the government resorts to such gimmicks only to fool the people,” he opined.
Chief observer Prakash Rathod, GPCC vice president M K Shaikh, Cumbarjua Congress leaders and others were present.
