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‘Winning people is more important than winning elections’: Goa Congress president
We want to build a very clean Congress and in the process, I feel, whoever has greed for money, today or tomorrow, they will leave
Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar spoke to HT about the party’s ability to bounce back from setbacks, the threats faced from rivals and its plans for the upcoming elections. Here are the excerpts from the interview.
Q: You have been reduced to four members in the Goa Legislative Assembly. The big question facing your party is can the Congress bounce back?
A: Congress has the inbuilt capacity to bounce back and in the past, we have proved it. In 2000, we were reduced to four. A breakaway group led by MLA Francisco Sardinha (present Congress MP from South Goa) split from the party and Sardinha became CM with the support of the BJP. We bounced back and now after these ten people left (the ten that merged with the BJP) we have taken a bold stand for the first time that they will not be taken back as per the wishes of the people of Goa. Our agenda is simple. Winning people is more important than winning elections. The moment you win the people, winning elections becomes easy. I know I had a lot of pressure… somewhere you have to be firm. Our partymen stood by us. Our Delhi leadership stood by us and we are here now.
Q: Many of these leaders who left were brought up by the Congress party. Today, almost 90% of the present BJP legislators had a past association or were members of the Congress. Do you think this trend of the Congress grooming leaders, only to have them hijacked by other parties, is a blot on the party?
A: The moment your personal greed clashes with your party ideology and the interest of Goa, when you compromise for money, such people cannot be trusted. And that’s why we’ve built a new team. We have brought many youngsters, new faces. We are building them very strong. Even now, some of our members have left (to the TMC). We want to build a very clean Congress and in the process, I feel all these people, whoever wants money, or has greed for money, today or tomorrow, they will leave. It’s better to leave today and we provide that opportunity to others. Nobody is indispensable.
Q: How much of a dent do you think parties like TMC, AAP, which have been primarily working in areas where the Congress is strong?
A: Nehru ji said, people of Goa are very wise. Why did he say this? He felt that Goans were wise, they will not be carried away and I’m confident that this time also they will not be carried away with TMC’s poster or hoarding campaign. The last time the AAP tried, they projected themselves to be (winning) 35% (of the vote share). They didn’t succeed. Goans are very wise. Unless you serve them, they don’t accept anybody. We had to struggle for 18 years after coming to Goa. People didn’t accept us for 18 years. Only after we started serving them, working for them, did people start believing in us. And that was the same for all the parties. So, you just cannot come overnight and put-up hoardings, and buy people from here and there. A party cannot be built on that.
Q: Last time the Congress was not able to form the government, that is now being used as a stick to beat the Congress with
A: Last time we never had the chance… the Governor was biased. The BJP converted Raj Bhavan into BJP bhavan. They used her (former Governor Mridula Sinha) to suppress the people’s mandate. As they laid down the principle or precedent that the single largest party is invited to form the government. This was bypassed. Why was it bypassed? Why was the single largest party not invited to form the government? If we failed, then they could have invited the BJP. Try to understand the background. The people of Goa defeated the BJP and you (Governor) have imposed on them the same party against their wishes by using Raj Bhavan, by using the home ministry and by using money power. It was not our mistake. If we had 21, we would have immediately gone and staked a claim. They didn’t have a majority. They bought the number by horse-trading. Actually, we are the victims. We are not the culprits. But the BJP has conveniently made us the culprits when we are the victims. It was our chance to serve the people of Goa who were was robbed. Your house is robbed and you are blamed. It is the same mentality of the BJP when the CM blamed the girl’s parents (for a crime against a girl who was out late at night).
They are the victims and the CM made them the culprits by blaming them. This is the BJP culture.
Q: Congress has said it is willing to form an alliance against the BJP softening its earlier stance. What prompted this decision?
A: We had a discussion in Delhi where our leader Rahul Gandhi and others were present. We explained the present situation in Goa and how we can defeat the BJP and definitely we will move ahead getting those parties who are willing to come on board together. All those options are being exploited.
