Panaji: Several Congress workers marched through the capital city of Panaji along with party leaders on Tuesday as the Mallikarjun Kharge-led Congress launched its 27-day-long “Goy Rakhonn Yatra” (Save Goa March), which will travel through all 40 Assembly constituencies in the state.
AICC Goa Desk In-charge Manikrao Thakare, AICC Goa Co-In-charge Dr. Anjali Nimbalkar, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, Congress MLAs Altone D’Costa and Carlos Alvares Ferreira, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar, and GPCC Working President Sunil Kawthankar led the march, which began near the Kadamba Bus Stand in Panaji.
The formal flagging-off of the 27-day yatra will be held on Wednesday at the Priol Assembly constituency by AICC General Secretary K. C. Venugopal.
Speaking to reporters, Alemao said the yatra has been planned to reach out to voters across all 40 Assembly constituencies who, according to the Congress, have been affected by BJP rule.
He said the Congress would listen to voters from all 40 constituencies before drafting its manifesto, which the party said it would implement if voted to power.
The elections to the Goa Legislative Assembly are due in March 2027.
Alemao said the main aim of the march is to expose what the Congress alleges is the BJP government’s failure to protect Goa’s interests.
“They have robbed the greenery by introducing draconian laws which give them uninterrupted power to change land use,” he said.
The Leader of Opposition alleged that corruption was at its peak under the current government and claimed that voters were looking for change in the upcoming elections.
The Congress had contested the 2022 Goa Assembly elections in alliance with the Goa Forward Party, winning a combined total of 12 seats, of which 11 were won by the Congress. Soon after the election, a group of eight Congress MLAs joined the BJP, leaving the party with three MLAs in the Assembly.
