Team Herald
PANJIM: The organisational elections of the Congress party, including the election of the State president, are likely to be delayed as the party was occupied with the recent Panjim and Valpoi by-polls.
According to the schedule set by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) the organisational elections, including the polls to pick the next State unit president, was supposed to be held between September 16 and October 15. The process includes the election of new committees at the booth level, district and state.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) general secretary Altinho Gomes confirmed that the party has written to the AICC seeking additional time to complete the election process, which was to have kick started from August 20 with the preparation of the electoral roll at the booth level.
“Since the party was busy with the by-polls, the electoral roll was not ready. We have asked time to prepare the roll by September 5,” Gomes said, adding that the new schedule for election is yet to come from the High Command.
Gomes said that the election to the booth level committees will take place in the first phase, followed by district committee election. “The election process may go beyond the scheduled deadline of October 15. The process may be completed by the end of October or by first week of November,” he said.
Following the election of the Pradesh Congress Committee, the AICC elections will take place.
Though the election for the new party president is due in October, last month AICC appointed Shantaram Naik as its new State chief. Under Naik’s leadership, the party has faced defeats in three elections, including cross voting during the polls held to elect the President of India, in July. This was followed by Rajya Sabha election, where Naik himself was the candidate, and then the by-elections.
