MAPUSA: Apologising to the people of Mandrem constituency on part of the Congress party for Dayanand Sopte’s switch to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), president of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Girish Chodankar on Sunday called upon the electorate in Mandrem to vote against him as he has forced the by-poll on them. He also said that Sopte had won the election not due to his individual capacity but as he was a candidate of the Congress party.
Chodankar was addressing a meeting at Tiracol on Sunday as part of its Jan Sampark Abhiyan. Congress on Sunday kicked off its Jan Sampark Abhiyan in Mandrem constituency by seeking blessings at temples and the church in Keri. Besides Chodankar, former Union minister Ramakant Khalap, former minister Sangita Parab, Amarnath Panjikar, Babi Bagkar, Daniele D’souza, Narayan Redkar and others came together in a show of unity and reached Tiracol village and held the meeting.
Congress leaders said that irrespective of the candidate fielded by it, all will work unitedly to win back the Mandrem constituency by defeating Sopte.
Addressing the gathering, Chodankar refuted claims that there was a fight between Congress leaders over Chief Minister’s candidature “as all senior leaders had no issue if CM candidature was given to anyone of them.”
He further said that “They (BJP) want to hold by-polls in December in two or more constituencies and finish the Congress party so now we all have to work together and ensure their defeat.”
Taking on Sopte, Chodankar said, “When Sopte was leaving for Delhi, he had said that he was going on a business trip. When he met Amit Shah also, it was a business trip, even when he resigned he was on a business trip so now Sopte should tell people of Mandrem about the business deal which was stuck during the trip.”
Former Union Minister Ramakant Khalap said, “We did not expect that he (Sopte) would betray us and would join BJP when Congress was supposed to form government. Now we all have to work together and ensure that Congress candidate wins election by defeating Sopte.”
Sangita Parab said that “all workers have come together as by- poll has been forced on us. So now again all Congress workers will work together like how we worked to get Sopte elected in previous election so that the Congress wins back the Mandrem seat.”
The Congress party will also hold a public meeting at Mandrem on November 4.