Goa election result: Congress moves leaders to resort, holds talks with AAP - Hindustan Times
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Goa election result: Congress moves leaders to resort, holds talks with AAP

ByGerard de Souza, Hindustan Times, Panaji
Mar 10, 2022 05:11 AM IST

More than 300 candidates contested for the 40 assembly seats which saw multi-cornered fights due to presence of several smaller and regional outfits besides the BJP and the Congress, the two major political forces in Goa.

On the eve of counting of votes in Goa, the Congress on Wednesday shifted all its candidates to a resort in the southern part of the state to prevent poaching attempts from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid predictions of a hung assembly in the elections.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and KPCC president D K Shivakumar during a meeting with Congress candidates, a day before the results of Goa assembly elections, in Margao. (PTI)
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and KPCC president D K Shivakumar during a meeting with Congress candidates, a day before the results of Goa assembly elections, in Margao. (PTI)

The party also engaged in talks with political rival Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is fighting its debut poll in the state, for support in government formation if there was a fractured mandate.

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Also Read| Goa polls: Congress doesn't trust their candidates, says state BJP chief

“The people of Goa felt that the Congress candidates who they had cast votes for should stay together like a team… the people are worried that despite voting out the BJP, the saffron party tends to hijack the government. But this is not going to be possible this time. Our candidates are new and young and they want to stay like a team. This has given them an opportunity to know one another. That is why we are staying together. We have, however, not forced anyone (to shift to the resort),” state Congress president Girish Chodankar said.

More than 300 candidates contested for the 40 assembly seats which saw multi-cornered fights due to presence of several smaller and regional outfits besides the BJP and the Congress, the two major political forces in Goa.

Click here for full coverage of Goa assembly elections

While exit polls predicted a hung House, it also indicated that the key to forming a government may be the high-profile newcomers AAP and Trinamool Congress (TMC). Both the BJP and the Congress were seen in a neck-and-neck fight but falling some distance short of the majority mark of 21.

In the 2017 elections, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party but saw its chances evaporate as the BJP quickly managed to cobble together a coalition.

Ahead of the 2022 results, the Congress shifted all the candidates to a luxury resort in Bambolim village near Panaji with their luggage.

“We are trying to cover all exigencies because we don’t know how the BJP plays. They use all the constitutional machinery; the central government, the state government (agencies) and sometimes even the governor’s office. We have to be extra vigilant and extra careful,” Congress desk incharge of Goa Dinesh Gundu Rao, said.

Also Read| No party wants to go with BJP, claims Goa Congress chief ahead of poll results

Chodankar said AAP leaders were “already in talks with Congress leaders”.

“The AAP has said that under no circumstances it will support the BJP,” Chodankar said, claiming that the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), too, will support the Congress.

“The MGP has been betrayed by the BJP so often. A senior MGP leader like Sudin Dhavalikar was humiliated and thrown out of the cabinet. There is no way the MGP will go with the BJP,” he added.

AAP leaders, including the party’s chief ministerial candidate Amit Palekar, were not available for comments.

With PTI inputs

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