After days of speculation, the Congress on Tuesday forged an alliance with like-minded regional outfits Goa Forward (GF) and United Goans(UG) to avert splitting the anti-BJP votes in the February 4 State Assembly elections.
Girish Chodankar, the All India Congress Committee Secretary, said talks were on to enlist the Nationalist Congress Party in the alliance.
Sources in the Congress said that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi had given an ‘in-principle’ nod to the alliance, but party president Sonia Gandhi would take a final decision. Further details on the alliance would be declared on Wednesday.
A big faction in the party, led by Goa Congress president Luizinho Faleiro and Mr.. Chodankar, opposed the alliance saying it would not help regain the public confidence it had lost in the 2012 and 2014 elections. However, another faction led by former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat prevailed upon the party bosses in Delhi, making the alliance possible.
While the GF is led by independent MLA Vijay Sardesai, a former Congress General Secretary, the UGP is led by former Education Minister Atanacio Monserrate, who is out on bail in a rape case involving a minor girl. Mr. Monserrate was expelled by the Congress over his anti-party activities two years ago rendering him an unattached MLA. His wife continues to be a Congress MLA.
