Chidambaram in Goa today on 2-day visit, his 1st as AICC poll observer for state

Issuing a statement last week, Congress Committee (GPCC) vice president (Organisation) M K Sheikh said that Chidambaram will hold an interaction with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office bearers, district and block presidents and will take inputs to chalk out strategies for the upcoming assembly elections in Goa.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was recently appointed as senior election observer for Goa, will vsit the state for two days starting Wednesday. He will meet party leaders of North and South Goa during his stay there.

This will be Chidambaram’s first visit to Goa after he was given charge of the observer post in early August. (PTI file photo)

Issuing a statement last week, Congress Committee (GPCC) vice president (Organisation) M K Sheikh said that Chidambaram will hold an interaction with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office bearers, district and block presidents and will take inputs to chalk out strategies for the upcoming assembly elections in Goa.

Sheikh added on Saturday that the former Union minister will also visit the Congress House in Panjim on Wednesday and the South Goa district office on Thursday.

This will be Chidambaram’s first visit to Goa after he was given charge of the observer post in early August. AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal issued an order in this regard and said that Chidambaram will oversee election strategies and coordination for the assembly elections.

However, his (Chidambaram's) appointment drew criticism from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government. BJP Goa’s president Sadanand Shet Tanavade told news agency PTI on August 12 that even if Rahul Gandhi was appointed as in charge, the Congress would not be able to win the election. “I have heard that the Congress has appointed Chidambaram as in-charge of Goa to decide the election strategy. Even if they get Rahul Gandhi as in-charge, they will not win the election,” Tanavade said.

Elections to the 40-member Goa legislative assembly are due in February 2022. In the 2017 elections, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in Goa, but could not come into power as the BJP forged an alliance with some independents and regional parties to form the government.

This time, the top contenders are the BJP, the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has promised it will provide free electricity to the people of Goa if it comes into power next year.

(With PTI inputs)