PANAJI
Sending confusing signals, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Goa Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Wednesday that no alliance was finalised as yet between the Congress and Vijai Sardesai's Goa Forward Party but added that talks will be on once the Election Commission declares the schedule of the assembly elections due in February-March 2022.
A day after Tweeting from Delhi a photograph of Sardesai, Siolim MLA Vinod Palyekar and Independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar along with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Opposition Leader Digambar Kamat in the same frame, Dinesh Gundu Rao said Goa Forward Party and Gaonkar have pledged support to the Congress but no formal alliance has been finalised yet.
On Tuesday, Sardesai who met with Gandhi in Delhi along with his party's Siolim MLA and the Independent from Sanguem had announced the joining of forces and called it 'team Goa' to defeat the ruling BJP.
However, Rao's statements on Wednesday reflect the continued distrust between the two sides in the Goa political arena. A section of the Congress leadership, in particular GPCC president Girish Chodankar, have consistently baited Sardesai.
Sardesai is an enigma to Chodankar and some others within the Congress leadership, including South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, who accused him of 'betrayal' after he played a crucial role in installing a BJP government led by the late Manohar Parrikar despite the Congress having emerged as the single largest party in the 2017 assembly elections.
But Sardesai also has protagonists in the Congress rooting for a truck with him in the 2022 polls, notable among them being Kamat and the two 'Working Presidents' -- Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco and Aleixo Sequeira.
Another crucial hurdle to be crossed if the Congress-Goa Forward Party alliance is to eventually fructify is how many seats would be left for Sardesai's outfit to contest. Both sides could, in the weeks to come, resort to high decibel brinkmanship to either stake claim or dispute the other side's bid for seats.
