THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
A day after it had a high-level meeting in Delhi regarding post-result strategising in Goa and expressing confidence of winning the numbers to form the government, the Congress on Sunday said it was open to tie-up with other anti-BJP parties if needed post the March 10 results, raising the 'surprise quotient' over the outcome of the February 14 assembly elections.
The Congress' Goa desk in-charge, Dinesh Gundu Rao said the party was ready to enter into an alliance with any anti-BJP party, including the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Earlier on Sunday afternoon, Rao along with senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was the party's senior observer for the Goa elections, arrived in Goa ahead of the March 10 counting of votes.
"Congress is ready to enter into an alliance with any anti-BJP party. TMC and AAP is also welcome, but it is upto their leaders," Rao said adding that the party is also ready to welcome the MGP.
"We want them to be a part of the Congress-led government. We will elect CLP leader within few minutes," he added.
Rao and Chidambaram are expected to meet the party candidates on Monday where they are expected to brief them on the do's and don'ts in the immediate hours post counting and results.
The Congress in alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party were the main contenders for power in the February 14 polls. The Congress party had contested the February 14 elections on 37 of the 40 seats, leaving three seats to the GFP.
The presence of multiple parties in the fray, including the MGP-TMC alliance, AAP and the NCP-Shiv Sena alliance has added a slice of suspense to the contest, with many predicting that the March 10 counting could possibly throw up a hung House.
It is in this scenario that the Congress has been rehearsing scripts wary of possible manipulations, pushing and shoving by the BJP, expected to be led in the post-results strategizing by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
In 2017, although the Congress had emerged the single largest party bagging 17 seats, a delay in electing a leader to stake claim and manage the numbers led to the BJP outsmarting it and approaching the Raj Bhavan and eventually getting a government led by the late Manohar Parrikar installed.
