Ex-GPCC chief Amit Patkar greeting Rahul Gandhi with a flower bouquet at the MCC meeting.
MARGAO
Outgoing Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief Amit Patkar was the cynosure of all eyes at the Margao Cricket Club ground after he was spotted on the dais at the public meeting addressed by Rahul Gandhi on Sunday evening.
The outgoing Congress chief was not only seated in the front row on the dais but also presented a flower garland to Rahul Gandhi in full public view. Incidentally, Patkar was also seen at Dabolim airport, along with other party leaders, to welcome Gandhi to Goa.
Patkar’s presence at the public meeting assumes significance against the backdrop of reports that a section of the party leadership sought to link him to the proposed Goa Congress party.
Commenting on Patkar’s presence at the meeting, senior Congress working president M K Sheikh said the party had invited him given his status as the former GPCC president. “Patkar has responded to the invitation and respected the party’s decision to invite him for the meeting,” Sheikh said.
When the media pointed out that Patkar had skipped the Goy Rakhonn Yatra across the state, including in his home constituency of Curchorem, Sheikh shot back: “The party had invited Patkar for the yatra. We do not know why he did not join the yatra when it wended its way across the state. He will be in a better position to explain his absence from the yatra.”
