MARGAO
Reassuring party rank and file that tickets will not be imposed from Delhi and Panaji, All India Congress Committee (AICC) Goa desk in-charge, Dinesh Gundu Rao, on Monday said the party will finalize candidates if they are with the people, win their confidence and have the support of the party workers.
He also said the party will devise the election strategy on how to go about the work ahead of the 2022 Assembly after the arrival of Congress Election Observer, P Chidambaram, later this week.
“Don’t be under any impression that the party will finalize the candidates from Delhi or Panaji. I want to tell you the tickets will be decided on three criteria -- one, the candidate should be connected to the people and win their confidence and should muster the support of the workers. Besides these three yardsticks, there will not be any other criteria in deciding the party candidates,” he said, while addressing a meeting of party workers of Quepem Block Congress Committee on Monday.
He said the party will not take cognizance of the feelings and sentiments of the party workers in deciding on the tickets.
Saying the party will draw up an election strategy for Goa later this week, Rao urged the party workers to go house to house and booth to booth to win the confidence of the people. “Simply speeches will not win us election, but we have to move around and win the confidence of the people,” he added.
Reminding that Congress turncoat, Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar, had left the party to join the BJP, he accused the BJP leadership of murdering democracy by luring elected representatives to leave and join the ruling party.
In his spirited address, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat said the mood of the people in Quepem constituency is that they will vote for the Congress again in 2022 and defeat the five-time MLA, who has switched sides to the BJP.
Wooing the government employee towards the Congress, Kamat said the party government will restore the housing loan scheme for the government services within eight days if it returns to power in the coming election.
GPCC Chief Girish Chodankar said the people of Quepem are just waiting for the elections to teach the local MLA a lesson. “Kavlekar was enjoying the post of Leader of Opposition while in the Congress, but he went to Amit Shah and auctioned Quepem,” he charged.
Congress leader Altone D’Costa said Quepem has suffered in the last 20 years for want of development, saying the unemployed youth will teach the local MLA a lesson in the election.
