TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Congress party is getting battle ready by slotting a strategy formulation meeting on Thursday ahead of the Panjim by-polls. Party candidate, Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado, will file his nomination for the election after the meeting.
All India Congress Committee Secretary Dr A Chellakumar will chair the meeting of the party which is showing a semblance of unity, after the routs it suffered in the 2012 Assembly polls and the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee and Congress Legislative Party members will attend the meeting.
Chellakumar is likely to have a separate meeting with Monserrate, who is yet to announce his support for the Congress candidate, and is likely to skip the party meeting. Monserrate can play a crucial role in the election as his support could bolster the votes for the party candidate.
Monserrate had initially announced his candidature for the Panjim by-polls as an independent, but later backtracked, making it clear he would not support Furtado’s candidature.
“The meeting will work out the by-poll strategy. A campaign in-charge is also likely to be elected. The party is very clear that all the members and MLAs will have to work for its candidate,” GPCC spokesperson Sunil Khawtankar said. He added, “The candidate’s name has been cleared by the party High Command and no one can raise any objection to it.”
Congress in the past had taken action against its members for anti-party activities during elections.
In the past 20 years, Panjim constituency has been dominated by BJP with Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar having been elected five times consecutively. Parrikar is set to campaign for his choice for the by-poll, novice Siddharth Kunkolienkar, who is likely to file his nomination on Saturday.
