Margao: All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Goa desk Dinesh Rao arrived in the state on Wednesday to begin with another round of talks with the party leaders and block committees.
He, however, did not speak about the party’s state unit leadership and said a decision in that regard will be arrived at by the high command. He was speaking to reporters outside the Dabolim airport after landing in the state.
On the issue of alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) for the forthcoming state assembly elections, Rao said he had only spoken with GFP president Vijai Sardesai about the alliance and not confirmed it. He said the decision of any alliance for the upcoming assembly elections would depend on what the party workers and the people of Goa want.
Rao, who is in the state on a three-day visit, said he will be interacting with Congress party leaders and workers to gauge the political situation in the state.
Speaking to media persons in Margao, Rao said it was time to do what was best for the state. “There are other party leaders, who are meeting other parties also, not only us. Ultimately, whatever alliance we will have depends on the party workers and what the people of Goa want. It is most important to see what they want and we will do what is good for Goa. We want a good, stable government to be formed in Goa and what has happened, the unethical politics, that has taken place in the last five years should be reduced. We should bring some sort of quality to Goan politics. Our focus now is to visit the constituencies and see who is the best candidate for each constituency,” he said.
Rao said meetings with block committees and party workers will be held in six constituencies over the next two days. “We have fixed meetings in six constituencies with party workers. Today, we had discussions with party seniors and sub-senior leaders and groups, which was a part of our internal exercise. Then we will be visiting the constituencies and seeing the feeling and mindset of the party workers,” he said.
Rao’s previous visit to the state last month had seen several senior leaders of the party express their thoughts apart from the general opinions of the block committees on the matter of party’s local leadership. Following the last month’s exercise, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had met senior leaders of the party from Goa along with Rao to discuss the local leadership issue and also preparations for the upcoming assembly elections.
Earlier, Rao was greeted by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar. South Goa district president Joe Dias and party leaders including Sankalp Amonkar and Alexio Sequeira were also present.
Speaking to media persons, Sequeira said, “We are gearing up for elections which is why Rao is here in Goa. The high command has to take a call on either to accept the resignation or reject it (of Chodankar). Let there be clarity once and for all. Once there is clarity, everyone will work together, no one will go against the high command’s decision. There may be a difference of opinion but at the end, it is the high command that will decide and we will respect the decision,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Congress party is considering roping in professional political management consultants/campaigners ahead of the 2022 Goa legislative assembly elections.
As many as eight different firms offering election management services held a presentation for Rao in South Goa on Wednesday afternoon after his arrival in the state. The prominent local Congress leaders were also present for the presentations.
A highly placed source told this daily that these firms are having poll strategists onboard and are offering the Congress the action plan in the run up to the assembly elections. They are also offering data analytics, campaigning strategies including digital and other services.
The source said the firms have offered the Congress to help in zeroing in on potential winnable candidates through their meticulous booth-level surveys. “All leaders were impressed with their presentations. They have some great ideas and strategies that may really work for the party,” the source said. He however, said their consulting fees are ‘extremely high’ and added that the party will have to negotiate before tying up with any of the eight firms.