PANAJI/MARGAO
The Chairman of Goa Pradesh Congress Election Manifesto Committee Ramakant Khalap on Sunday said that the manifesto of the party will be hopefully released by end of November.
The document will be ready by the first week of November which will be put before seniors and after approval it will be released to the public hopefully by November end,” said Khalap.
The assembly elections are expected to be held in February 2022 so the Congress manifesto is expected to be release three months prior to the elections.
Khalap said that the election manifesto committee will have an open house session at 10 to 12 places to consider views of different sections of the Goan society.
The first such open house session will be held at Margao on October 15 at Adarsha school hall. Open house sessions will be held at Vasco, Mapusa and other major places.
We will listen to various stakeholders like taximen, tourist and trade industry, small scale industries, CII, Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, teachers and professors, students, youth, said Khalap.
We will consult seniors in the party, he added. Khalap said that how the financial position of the state is to be made stable was a major issue with over Rs 30k crore debt on the state. The party will try to come out with practical solutions, he added. He said that the manifesto will be practical which can be fulfilled once the party comes to power unlike other parties which are promising 100 per cent free electricity, water and 2 lakh jobs to be created which is impractical.
The co-chairman of Goa Congress Manifesto Committee Elvis Gomes said price rise, fuel price rise will find place in the document.
With senior Congress leader P Chidambaram as the party election observer for Goa, the state party leadership has plans to seek help and guidance of the former Finance Minister to prepare the draft manifesto with inputs from the stakeholders.
Chidambaram will attend the first session at Margao on October 14.
To a question, Khalap said the party will only make implementable promises to the people, adding that the sessions will be open for individuals, professionals, intellectuals, students, representatives of industry and trade, besides the common man comprising of motorcycle pilots, taxi men, street vendors etc.
Elvis pointed out that the former Finance Minister is full of ideas and the state Congress will seek his guidance to prepare a draft manifesto. “Chidambaram has many ideas. On the price rise, he can give his suggestions how the Congress can go about if the party comes to power. We will go about preparing the draft manifesto with his guidance,” he added.
