Panaji: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said that he agrees with the Trinamool Congress that if the BJP wins the elections in Goa once again, it will form the government. Congress will be responsible for this.
Raut claimed that the Shiv Sena had proposed to the Congress a pre-poll alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Goa Forward Party (GFP) in Goa, but the party showed no interest.
Raut was speaking to reporters after the Shiv Sena released the first list of nine candidates for the February 14 assembly elections in Goa. In Goa, Shiv Sena is contesting the elections in alliance with Sharad Pawar’s NCP. Earlier, Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee had said on Thursday that the party’s state in-charge P Chidambaram should resign taking responsibility for the defeat if the Congress fails to oust the BJP from power in Goa.
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Banerjee claimed that the Trinamool had approached Chidambaram with an official proposal for a pre-poll alliance, but nothing happened in this direction. Raut said on Friday, ‘I agree with Abhishek Banerjee. We also tried to negotiate with the Congress. We had proposed to party leaders Dinesh Gundu Rao, Digambar Kamat and Girish Chodankar that Congress, NCP, GFP and Shiv Sena should come together for Goa elections. The Shiv Sena leader, however, also said that Chidambaram should not be held responsible as he was only following the decisions taken by the party high command. Raut said, “As part of the alliance, the Shiv Sena had proposed to the Congress to contest on 30 assembly seats in Goa. Whereas, the remaining ten seats would have been divided among other constituents. These were the ten seats on which the Congress has never been able to win.
The Shiv Sena leader claimed that the Congress did not show interest in the alliance proposal. He said the party should evaluate its decision. The Rajya Sabha member said, ‘Our party’s image is very clear. Shiv Sena will create history this time in Goa assembly elections.
Raut also said that Shiv Sena is ready to support if Utpal Parrikar, son of former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar contests as an independent candidate. Utpal had expressed his desire to contest from Panaji seat in Goa, but the BJP had refused him a ticket. (agency)