‘What Goa believes in and what we believe in is the same’

  • | Saturday | 16th March, 2019

But he became insecure.By and large, Goa has a Congress DNA, where the ideology of what Goa believes in and what we believe in is the same. Our party president has declared and it might reflect in our manifesto that we will have sustainable mining.We are completely in sync. The issues are already in the public domain; the corruption of this government and how it has created a disaster in Goa. Goans can’t be taken for a ride.The people of Goa have elected us to rule and the mandate was loud and clear. At the first opportunity that the people and Congress get, the popular government will be in Goa.

Largely credited with fortifying the party’s grassroots, GPCC president Girish Chodankar is now in the running for a Lok Sabha ticket. He speaks to Newton Sequeira on a wide range of issues, including leadership, tackling differences within the party, and poll prospects.The party will decide whether I contest or not, and I am still not sure if it will ask me to contest. If the party does ask me to contest, it will take all factors into consideration. As far as our party structure is concerned, it does not depend on one person, unlike BJP. We have built new generation leaders who are in charge of the respective constituencies where elections are to be held, and they don’t need me. We are here to build more leaders. There is no feeling of insecurity if more leaders develop.It is actually a strength. There may be differences and there have to be differences. Unless there are differences, leadership cannot grow. It can’t be like (chief minister) Parrikar, where nobody questions him. When people raise questions, real concerns can be solved. It acts like a mirror for the leader. If not, it becomes like BJP where they cannot find another leader because they suppressed, threw out or marginalised other leaders.We have defeated Parrikar when he was at his best. In 2005, we formed a government and in 2007, we contested and formed the government. Parrikar is a circumstantial leader and he manipulates a lot. Manipulated politics is temporary. Ultimately, he is termed as the man of U-turns. Although people say he is a tall leader, he is called unprincipled and unethical. How many leaders has he created? This is not leadership as it was his responsibility to create leaders after him. But he became insecure.By and large, Goa has a Congress DNA, where the ideology of what Goa believes in and what we believe in is the same. We don’t see the need to create a cadre in Goa because most Goans share our mindset. I have only energised the party and everyone has worked. The senior leaders have provided guidance and have set the direction. Blocklevel workers have worked in that direction. You see the large turnout at (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi’s meeting. People from all 40 constituencies turned up for it. Usually, we used to depend on a few constituencies for mobilisation. And if you see, 70-75% of the crowd was genuine booth workers with just 30% of others. We have given people a cause, we have taken up their issues and given them a voice.People can’t be fooled all the time with BJP’s fake nationalism. People have started to raise questions. Goans can’t be taken for a ride.The people of Goa have elected us to rule and the mandate was loud and clear. BJP and its allies robbed our mandate and everyone knows how. At the first opportunity that the people and Congress get, the popular government will be in Goa. There are various options before us and it all depends on how to exploit them. Breaking some MLAs unethically (forcing them to defect) is bad. The interest of the party is secondary. Goa’s interests are primary.The first step to revive the government is to form the government. Without our government in place, we cannot do anything. Our party president has declared and it might reflect in our manifesto that we will have sustainable mining.We are completely in sync. This division has been created by BJP, which is projecting that our party is a divided house. Our MLAs have always rallied behind our party. Whatever stand our party has taken, our MLAs have supported. There may be differences of opinion, which we welcome. We don’t have to keep anybody together because nature is taking care of it. Everyone in Goa knows that the one who joins BJP lands up in the hospital. So people can decide if the money that BJP offers is more precious than their health and life. It is a proven fact in Goa.This election will focus on local issues, the failure of this government in the past seven years and the failure of the Centre in the past five years. The issues are already in the public domain; the corruption of this government and how it has created a disaster in Goa. The picture is the same at the Centre. But more than Rafale and the terrorist attacks, there are issues that are close to the heart. BJP promised 10 crore jobs and lower inflation, but see the petrol prices and gas prices.

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