New Delhi: Expressing confidence of the Congress conquering the throne of Panaji, former union minister P. Chidambaram on Friday said no MLA of his party can be poached by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa this time.
“Thief still there, but people will teach him a lesson,” Chidambaram told news agency PTI.
Chidambaram, the Congress’ senior election observer for the Goa polls, said announcing the CM candidate is not a factor in the assembly elections.
The senior Congress leader said the “small parties” Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) are splitting the non-BJP votes in Goa, adding nearly all their candidates’ are defectors from other parties.
Chidambaram also countered the BJP’s allegation that India’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru delayed liberation of Goa and said this is another “desperate attempt to distort history”.
Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a swipe at the Congress and Pandit Nehru for “failing” to liberate Goa soon after India achieved independence from the British.
Addressing a rally in North Goa’s Mapusa town, he claimed that the first prime minister allowed freedom fighters to be killed by the Portuguese police without offering any assistance.
The Congress had emerged as the single-largest party by winning 17 seats in the 40-member House, while the BJP bagged 13 in the last assembly polls.
The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, (MGP), the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the independents won three seats, each, while the NCP bagged one.
The BJP, however, joined hands with some regional outfits and independents to form the government in Goa in 2017.
Polling for the 40-member Goa Assembly will take place in a single phase on February 14.
The counting of votes will take place on March 10.