Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: In a significant development, the Indian National Congress has turned down the offer of alliance from the Trinamool Congress.
Congress has not just rejected the offer from the TMC but has also accused the West Bengal based party of dividing the Congress votes.
TMC leader Mahua Moitra had said that the AITC already made a formal & definitive offer to INC on Goa to defeat BJP.
“INC leadership asked for time to revert. This was almost 2 weeks ago 3 If Mr Chidambaram not aware of details, he should talk to his leadership rather than making these statements,” Moitra said.
However, replying to tweets, two Congress leaders Dinesh Gundu Rao, Goa desk incharge and Venugopal hit back at Moitra.
“If @kcvenugopalmp’s (Venugopal’s) tweet wasn’t reply enough, I wonder who from amongst Delhi leaders response is @MahuaMoitra awaiting. And Trinamool’s brilliant strategy to defeat BJP in Goa is to weaken Congress and divide the anti-BJP vote. Whom does that help Moitraji?” he asked.
Earlier, Venugopal tweeted, “The rumour in circulation that a possible alliance with TMC was discussed by Shri
@RahulGandhi in today’s meeting is completely baseless & untrue”.
He added, “Let me assure that the Congress party is confident – we will put Goa back on the path to progress soon.”
In short, these tweets mean Congress would not align with the TMC.
To this, Moitra tweeted again, saying, “AITC is serious about defeating BJP. Uninformed false bravado is no substitute for rational thinking & maturity. Definitive offer between principals on the table – waiting for the revert. No desire to engage in further Twitter shadowboxing with various INC functionaries.”
Earlier, Chidambaram, who is the senior election observer for the Goa Assembly elections, in an interview with PTI, had said there is a strong and intense “anti-BJP, anti-incumbency wind” blowing in Goa, and his party would appeal to the electorate that “Goa should be ruled by Goans”.
When asked about the TMC’s strategy of taking in Congress leaders, Chidambaram said the Congress was “dismayed” when the TMC “lured” its MLAs to its fold.
“We received credible reports that the TMC was actively poaching our members including block-level leaders, sarpanches,” he said.
TMC Goa, in-charge Mahua Moitra, reached out to the Congress to stitch an alliance in the run-up to the assembly polls. She said that Congress alone cannot defeat the BJP and all anti-BJP forces should come together.
“Congress alone cannot defeat the BJP. All anti-BJP forces must ally. None of the parties, Congress, TMC, AAP can stake a claim that they are the only anti-BJP parties because all of them are here for the same cause,” the TMC MP said.
Last week, Moitra had tweeted calling for an alliance with like-minded parties to take on the BJP in Goa. In response, Congress leader P Chidambaram had said, “Congress is capable of defeating the BJP. However, if a party wants to support Congress, why should I say no? Let us see what the official offer is.”
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