Goa Congress chief resigns after party’s rout in zila parishad polls

Congress won just four of the 37 seats it contested. The ruling BJP swept the polls, winning 33 out of 49 seats

Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar has stepped down from the post taking the responsibility for the party’s dismal performance in the zila parishad elections, people familiar with the development said.

Representational Image. (HT file)

A Congress functionary said he has been asked to continue on the post till his replacement is named. Chodankar, 53, was appointed the Goa Congress chief in April 2018, replacing veteran leader Shantaram Naik.

In the just concluded zila parishad elections, the Congress faced a near-rout, winning just four of the 37 seats it contested. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the polls, winning 33 out of 49 seats.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also opened its score, winning one seat. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) won three seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) one and independents seven.

Since the results were declared, Chodankar had come under fire from his Congress colleagues for the poor show in the polls that were billed as semi-final before the assembly elections in 2022.

Former Goa Congress president Ravi Naik also blamed Chodankar for the debacle and demanded his resignation from the post.

Chodankar had earlier offered his resignation soon after the party’s debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to share accountability with Rahul Gandhi who had stepped down as the Congress president.

Meanwhile, the name of Congress legislature party (CLP) leader and former chief minister Digambar Kamat as the new state unit president is doing the rounds. A Congress functionary said if Kamat is appointed as the state unit chief, Curtorim legislator Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco could replace him as the CLP leader.