Team Herald
PANJIM: In a remark that could open up a can of worms which wasn’t tightly sealed anyway, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president in Goa Amit Palekar underlined that AAP’s trust with Congress has diminished substantially.
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Speaking to O Heraldo, he stretched the narrative to the extent of saying: “Congress has not displayed the trust with which an alliance can be sustained.”
The remark, coming 24 hours after his boss and national Convenor Arvind Kejriwal announced that AAP would not have an alliance with the Congress for the Delhi Assembly elections is a strong enough indication that Goa may follow the same course.
Unless there is a mindset change and restoration of the trust deficit, this remark can well be the beginning of the end of that road. However, AAP doesn’t seem to have wanted to pull that plug unilaterally.
As Palekar told O Heraldo: “People of Goa want and need an alliance, but an alliance is built on trust. If that trust is lost then it’s much better for us to continue to build AAP as an honest opposition party, independently.”
The Congress, not aware of Palekar’s remarks to O Heraldo, didn’t quite emphasise, either, that the Congress AAP alliance was a certainty in Goa, preferring to lobby the issue back to the ‘High Command’s’ court.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Vice President Tulio D’Souza said, “Ours is a national party and the decision taken by the Party High Command will be implemented depending on the prevailing situation. Alliance was forged at the Central level for parliament election.”
In fact the Congress is playing safe by saying that the subject doesn’t need immediate attention.
“We are fighting. However, there is no election in the State right now. A decision will be taken when elections are held. However, we will work unitedly against the BJP so that we can form our government after the next elections,” D Souza said.
GPCC Vice President Sunil Kawthankar echoed the “high command will decide” sing song.
“The high command will take a decision whether there will be an alliance or not. There are still two years for Assembly elections in Goa. Right now all the opposition parties are united in Goa,” he said.
This seemed to be statement more out of hope than reality.
