TMC MP Derek O’Brien landed in Goa on Thursday strengthening talk that the party is about to announce a foray into the politics of the coastal state.
O’Brien, however, didn’t offer any comments upon arrival, but was scheduled to meet several unnamed politically connected persons, including an independent MLA during his visit to the state.
Konkani writer and activist N Shivdas has said he met Indian Political Action Committee head and West Bengal Chief Minister’s ace political strategist Prashant Kishor in Kolkata earlier this week and that the party would indeed contest the upcoming elections in Goa.
“I met Prashant Kishor in Kolkata for half an hour. He wants good people in Goa, untainted people. They want to start afresh. Now they (the TMC) are coming with full preparations. They were not serious at that time (2012 assembly polls). Now they are very serious. They are introducing themselves in Goa as a national party. Their aim is the 2024 elections,” Shivdas told reporters on Thursday.
Shivdas also said that the party was in touch with several MLAs past and present as well as those having political clout ahead of a formal re-entry into the state.
Shivdas is an award-winning writer and former president of the Goa Konkani Akademi, but hasn’t been politically active in the recent past.
{{/usCountry}}Shivdas is an award-winning writer and former president of the Goa Konkani Akademi, but hasn’t been politically active in the recent past.
{{/usCountry}}Attempts to reach O’Brien for a comment remained unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, a section of Congress leaders claimed that it would be ‘justified’ if former Chief Minister and Congress MLA Luizinho Faleiro, who is rumoured to be quitting the party and setting up the Goa unit of the TMC does indeed join the TMC.
“In 2017, we came to a figure of 17 under Luizinho’s leadership plus one independent. On the night of the counting we had 21 MLAs with us. A letter was made ready to be given to the Governor to stake claim to form the government. Digvijay Singh who was in-charge stopped the letter from being given to the Governor. He wanted at least 24. Digvijay and Chella Kumar (former Goa in-charge) stopped Luizinho from giving the letter. All these repeated insults, humiliation must be working on him. I do not know what his decision is. Evidently, he is not happy with what is happening in the Congress,” Agnelo Fernandes, a former Congressman said.
“It looks like the party is manipulated by one or two people. Loyalists are being sidelined. This might lead to a revolt. Anything can happen. If leaders like him are on the sidelines, for how long can you take this humiliation? Those people who demanded his resignation in 24 hours have quit the Congress and joined the BJP,” he added.
Talk of Faleiro leading a revolt along with a bunch of Congressmen and joining the TMC ahead of the polls has gained traction over the last few days, but Faleiro himself has remained tight-lipped only revealing that some members of the I-PAC had reached out to him as they have been reaching out to everybody.
This will be the TMC’s second foray into the state having first set up a unit prior to the 2012 assembly elections and having unsuccessfully contested the polls. The party also contested one Lok Sabha seat in Goa in 2014 without success.