Team Herald
PANJIM: A day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi declared that the party would fight elections in Goa on its own, State Congress leaders played down the significance of her statement, saying that any call on an Opposition alliance would be taken by the party high command.
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Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Patkar said, “I don’t know in what context she (Atishi) was speaking – about Delhi and the country, or only about Goa. However, I believe it is premature at this moment to discuss the alliance, as there are still two years left for the Assembly elections. The decision regarding the alliance will be made by the High Command and I am sure they will come up with the right decision. Additionally, the AAP Goa President (Amit Palekar) recently issued statements regarding the alliance that differed from what we are hearing from Atishi. Therefore, it is best that the Goa AAP President also clarifies their stance on this.”
Palekar, however, asserted that first Congress has to put its “house in order” before any talk of an alliance can happen. “I am still saying that the people of Goa want an alliance but there has to be a strong trust between the alliance partners. There has to be trust-building not just in our minds but also in the minds of the people. Rahul Gandhi recently mentioned that people in Congress were working for BJP. Unless there is trust, why will people repose their faith in a party that has given its MLAs to the BJP? Today, of the 33 BJP MLAs in Goa, 31 were originally in the Congress,” the AAP Goa President said.
After the debacle in the Delhi elections, Palekar had spoken in favour of a pre-poll alliance with the Congress. But his statement was opposed by Congress brass Salcete taluka, particularly from Benaulim and Velim constituencies.
AAP and the Congress fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as partners of the INDIA Bloc, a factor that helped the Grand Old Party retain the South Goa Lok Sabha Seat. Some weeks later, Congress extended its support to AAP, helping the party win the Benaulim Zilla
Panchayat (ZP).
All India Congress Committee (AICC) Goa desk in-charge Manikrao Thakare said, “I have no idea about her (Atishi) statement. Some AAP leaders were expected to meet me but I could not meet them. Different statements (about alliance) are being made but they are not official statements.”
Reacting to Atishi’s statement that AAP will go solo in the ensuing Zill Panchayat (ZP) and 2027 Assembly elections in Goa, Thakare said that opposition INDIA Bloc has nothing to do with local body elections. It is meant only for State and national-level elections.
Patkar asserted that the party had been strengthening its grassroots presence in all 40 Assembly constituencies. “Finally, if you see, Congress, along with other like-minded parties such as Goa Forward Party (GFP) and AAP, have been unitedly fighting as the Opposition and raising the issues of the people,” he added.
South Goa MP Capt Viriato Fernandes wondered if Atishi’s comments were a reaction to the work that Congress was doing on the ground. “We are constituting block Congress committees in every Assembly constituency. However, the question of an alliance is the sole prerogative of the high command,” he said.
