All India Congress Committee General Secretary K C Venugopal on Saturday held a marathon exercise to quell the party's internal dissensions following the appointment of Girish Chodankar as State Congress president and dismissed speculation of divisions within the party.
Strongly backing Chodankar, Venugopal, who met party office bearers and other leaders one-on-one including disgruntled former GPCC chief Amit Patkar, at a starred hotel in Dona Paula, strongly defended his appointment.
He stressed that Chodankar was a seasoned party worker with 25–30 years of service and a reputation for integrity.
“He is not a newcomer. Allegations against him are baseless,” Venugopal said at a press conference he addressed in the evening.
Responding to media questions on the public notice regarding the proposed registration of a new political outfit named 'Goa Congress Party', Venugopal said, everyone has a right to form a political party. "I have heard a new party is coming called “Goa BJP Party”, he said.
Taking a swipe at party defectors, Venugopal said, "the party is like a mother to us. Those who defected from the party have cheated their own mother."
The top Congress leader earlier in the day also convened a larger meeting with senior leaders, including AICC in-charge Manikrao Thakre, co-incharge Anjali Nimbalkar and Chodankar himself.
Dissident leaders, meanwhile, voiced sharp resentment and questioned why the leadership change was abruptly made without local consultations.
Patkar, who briefly spoke to reporters, said his team had worked for four and a half years to build the cadre and strengthen grassroots structures.
“This is a democratic party. Decisions should not be imposed without consultation,” he said, adding that the fight was against BJP, not Chodankar.
Party sources said, during the one-to-one meetings as well as group meetings, Venugopal urged leaders to bury differences and focus on unity.
He also cautioned against airing grievances on social media and asked workers to strengthen booth committees and organisational structures.
During his press conference, Venugopal told reporters that enthusiasm among the Congress workers in Goa was visible.
He accused the BJP of land grabs and corruption, saying Goa’s future was at stake.
