PANJIM: Goa’s newest and arguably a powerful political alliance was sealed with the coming together of Goa’s oldest party the MGP and the newest entrant to Goan politics, the Trinamool Congress. Mamata Banerjee also declared that the TMC-MGP will jointly draft the people’s manifesto for the coming assembly polls.
Addressing a public meeting at Panjim, Banerjee formalised the pre-poll alliance between the Goa TMC and the regional Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). The West Bengal Chief Minister juggled two languages, Hindi (which she strives hard to speak) and a wee bit of Konkani, a few words of which she has picked up. But if she fell short of perfect grammar, she more than made up for it with spirit and candour sending her message right into the ranks of all other parties, across the political spectrum.
In a show of absolute respect to the MGP, Didi said, “The MGP is original, it is historical, I salute Sudin ji” (MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar), and went on to add, “We are a joint family now. We will fight the battle together. We will sacrifice small interests for the greater interest. We will show the direction. If we have to give direction, we have to light diyas (keep the flame burning). And to keep the flame burning we need to bring in ‘Goenchi Navi Sakal’. If we have to have ‘Goenchi Navi Sakal’, then amka naka dilli ka dadagiri.”
Assuring the people of its resolve to always put people’s interests before politics, Banerjee said, “I have not come to control you. I don’t want outsiders to control Goa. I want insiders to rule. You people will choose your leader.”
Banerjee reiterated that TMC had joined forces with the oldest political party in the State with a
common agenda to defeat the BJP and appealed to other like-minded parties to join them to avoid division of votes.
She once again reiterated that the TMC-MGP alliance would be at the forefront of the opposition forces. “I’m calling upon all anti-BJP parties. Do not divide the votes. Come and fight with us,” she said.
Enthralling the audiences with a recitation of the Chandi Paath, the AITC chairperson assured the people of Goa of the party’s brand of secular, unbiased politics which focuses on issues instead of the communal agenda that is usually driven by the BJP.
Singing praises for Banerjee, MGP MLA Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar said, “She is from a poor Brahmin family and she is ruling West Bengal. We all have to be proud of it.” He tore into the BJP for propagating fake videos aimed to implicate the TMC, forewarning supporters of BJP’s long history of using fake propaganda to malign the image of anyone who stands up to tyranny.
Former international tennis player and now a prominent figure in Goan politics, Leander Paes spoke highly about the alliance. He said, “I believe in partnerships. I think partnerships always lead to success. I am confident that this TMC-MGP partnership will give rich dividends in the days to come.”
AITC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, AITC Rajya Sabha MP Luizinho Faleiro, Lok Sabha MP and AITC Goa in-charge Mahua Moitra, Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao, MGP president Deepak Dhavalikar, and Kiran Kandolkar also spoke, at a very impressive gathering in Panjim, easily one of the biggest political rallies in this poll season, thus far.
