Team News Riveting
Panaji, March 8
Once bitten, twice shy—Congress is following the dictum for Goa as five states gear up for counting of votes on Thursday.
Of the five states that went to the state polls, the grand-old party is wary in Goa. For, it did not want to repeat the 2017 state assembly election experience when Congress failed to form the government despite emerging as single largest party.
In the 2017 Goa election, Congress won 17 of 40 seats. However, the party high command allegedly did not take timely decision and the BJP formed the government in the state with the help of smaller parties and Independents despite winning 13 seats.
Now, most exit polls have given the BJP an edge over other parties in Goa, with some predicting a majority for the party in the 40-member Goa Assembly, the Congress leaders are hopeful for a close contest. The internal report to the party suggested that the margin of seats between Congress and the BJP will be thin.
The Congress high command has started the preparation accordingly. The Congress top brass has asked its Goa candidates to stay in a hotel until Friday afternoon, a day after the election results of five states, including the coastal state, will be declared. The Congress candidates will not reach the counting centre, and will be represented by their election agents, a senior leader said.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar, who played a crucial role during the 2018 Rajasthan election, has been sent to Goa as part of the strategy. All India Congress Committee (AICC) senior election observer P Chidambaram and in charge Dinesh Gundu Rao have been camping in Goa since Sunday.
