the goan I network
MARGAO
With no response from the Congress leadership over its alliance offer for the ensuing Lok Sabha and bypolls, the NCP leadership has decided to wait till Monday before taking a call on its future course.
With just three days to go for the process of filing of nominations to come to an end, NCP State President Jose Philip D’Souza told The Goan on Sunday that the party will wait for the Congress to respond to its offer of an alliance.
“We understand that all the secular parties should come together to unitedly stop the communal parties from coming to power. But, at the same time, the Congress should not take the like minded parties for granted. The NCP had made an offer to the Congress leadership to forge an alliance with the party, but we have not received any communication from them till date,” Jose Philip informed.
He, however, made it clear that the NCP will take a call and decide independently.
Sources in the NCP informed that the party’s national leadership is not averse in fielding candidates for the two Goa Lok Sabha seats, the local leaders have been treading a cautious path, lest their decision to contest the fray is not seen by the people as an attempt to help the BJP win the two seats.
While the NCP local unit has almost veered to the view that the party should not field candidates for the South Goa seat, the leadership, however, has reserved its right to field candidates for the bypoll if the Congress does not respond to its offer by Monday.
When The Goan contacted NCP Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao to shed light on the offer made to the Congress, he said the party wants the Congress leadership to forge an alliance with the NCP so that they can go all out to support the Congress candidates.
To a question, he said the Congress should leave at least six seats for the NCP to contest in Goa in the next Assembly elections. Apart from Benaulim, the NCP is believed to have zeroed in on Vasco, Cortalim and Sanguem, besides two other seats. “We are not asking for seats which are presently being represented by the Congress. We have only suggested seats that are represented by the BJP and others,” Churchill said, making it clear that it would not be possible for him or the NCP leaders to support the Congress candidates for the LS polls without an alliance.
