Congress to file police complaint against turncoats today

Team Herald

PANJIM: The Congress Party will file a police complaint on Wednesday, April 21 against some former party members for forging party documents and producing the same in front the Goa Assembly Speaker during hearing on disqualification petition.

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar said that the forgery came to light when the forged documents were produced before the Goas Assembly Speaker by some rebel MLAs while defending their decision of joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.  

According to Chodankar, the forged documents dated July 10, 2019 states that the party passed a resolution urging the then Leader of the Opposition (Babu Kavalekar) to merge the party in the Goa Legislative Assembly into the BJP. It further states that they had no faith in the current leadership at the national level and that the party is heading in directionless manner and has no future.

Chodankar said that the party’s letter head and rubber stamp was forged. The GPCC does not mention whether it was office-bearers or executive committee meeting and the resolution is proposed by the then Panjim Block Congress president Prasad Amonkar, who according to him, is not a part of the GPCC office-bearer and the executive committee member. Similarly, Jitendra Gaonkar, who seconded the resolution has signed as GFPCC secretary when he was South Goa District Congress committee secretary, he said. 

Chodankar said that the Speaker had lack of knowledge of Constitution and was unaware that his was a Constitutional post.

“We will not leave who had committed forgery. Speaker himself has committed forgery by allowing the merger of 10 rebel MLAs. It was illegal because merger cannot happen but Speaker allowed it and then accepted forged documents. We will go legally and will not spare those involved in the forgery,” he said.

Chodankar recalled how documents were forged to disqualify the then sitting MLA Filipe Nery Rodrigues and how he was physically removed from the House in February 2005. But it is unfortunate that same Filipe Nery defected to BJP again, he said.   

The Congress president declared that all 12 defectors will never be given tickets by the party to contest next elections as long as he is the president. “We will not support these defectors directly or indirectly and will also see that they are defeated if they find a place to contest on other party’s list.”

“We have alternate candidates in every Assembly constituency and in some constituencies we have two and four candidates and they are working for the party,” Chodankar said adding that nobody should think that the party is finished in Goa.