Team Herald
PANJIM: The Congress may be playing down the rift with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), but there are enough indications that the party
is preparing the ground
for a solo performance going forward.
Organisational changes are afoot at the State level and AICC Goa desk in-charge Manikrao Thakare said as much on Wednesday to the media after attending the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) executive committee meeting. “The committee discussed organisational matters and it was decided to revamp the GPCC by December-end and reconstitute both district and block Congress committees by January to prepare for the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections scheduled in December 2025 and also for the 2027 Assembly polls,” Thakare said, adding that the party would keep fighting the cash-for-jobs scam battle in Goa.
When questioned on the alliance with AAP in the State, Thakare tried to sidestep this and said that all decisionson the alliance would be taken by the High Command. “Whatever Goa Congress proposes regarding the ZP elections will be conveyed to the High Command. The decision for the Assembly polls will be taken after discussions between the senior leaders of both the parties,” he said.
AICC Secretary Anjali Nimbalkar, who was also present at the interaction, insisted she was misquoted on the war of words between Congress and AAP leaders over the Benaulim Assembly seat, which has seen party leaders on both sides lash out at each other with open challenges to break the alliance.
“I am here to strengthen the party organisation at the grassroot level. In Benaulim, I spoke to block committee members and sought their views. I have conveyed their feelings to the party and the final decision will be taken by the High Command. But I told the people of Benaulim that I am with them.”
BJP using ‘sextortion’ case to divert attention from job scam: Thakare
PANJIM: AICC Goa desk in-charge Manikrao Thakare alleged that the ruling BJP was raising the ‘sextortion’ issue based on a ‘morphed’ video involving a Congress MLA, while he had already filed a police complaint. “Let the police complete its investigation. The BJP is deliberately raising this issue to divert the attention of the people from other issues like the cash-for-jobs scam,” he said. Aldona MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira, who attended the GPCC executive meeting, declined to comment on the video controversy.