Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday expressed confidence of his party’s win with an absolute majority in the upcoming Assembly election in Goa. He said the grand old party would not be in need of any alliance to form the next government in the coastal state.
Gandhi made the remarks during a press conference in Margao in response to a question about the chances of his party entering into a post-result coalition with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) or the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in case of a hung assembly.
Recalling the 2017 election results in the state in which the Congress emerged as the party with the maximum seats (17 of 40), he said the current BJP-led government in Goa was not the people’s “original mandate”. The people had wanted a Congress government in Goa since five years ago, he added.
{{/usCountry}}Recalling the 2017 election results in the state in which the Congress emerged as the party with the maximum seats (17 of 40), he said the current BJP-led government in Goa was not the people’s “original mandate”. The people had wanted a Congress government in Goa since five years ago, he added.
{{/usCountry}}On alliances, he said discussions around the same were not needed as his party will win with a majority. “We have concrete proposals for the people of Goa and I am confident we are going to win the elections. I think we will get a full majority. So the question of alliances does not really come into play,” he said.
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“We won’t fall short. I think we will be well above the majority mark with ease,” he said in response to a follow up question on the same.
Gandhi said that his party has specific plans on the three major issues concerning the state – unemployment, environment and tourism. “We plan to resume mining in a sustainable and legal way in Goa soon after we are voted to power,” he said, adding the same can lead to creation of a large number of jobs in the state.
“The central issue is unemployment and the Congress is the best party to resolve the same. Young Goans need jobs in the IT industry and it can be connected to the rest of the country and world.”
He also spoke in detail about the Nyay scheme that the Congress proposes to implement once voted power. “We would give ₹5,000 a month to needy families, there would be 30 per cent reservation for women in government jobs. ₹500 crore would be allocated for employment generation. Also, coal hub ideas would be scrapped,” the Congress MP added.