MARGAO: Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar on Tuesday reiterated that the party will not admit “defectors” into its fold ahead of the Goa Legislative Assembly elections.
In a video message released here, Chodankar claimed that rumours were being spread that he would induct defectors back into the party.
“I would like to reiterate that we will not admit any defector back into the party. This has been our stand since the 2022 Goa Assembly elections, and it remains the same even now,” said Chodankar, who recently took charge as GPCC chief, replacing Amit Patkar.
Chodankar said the decision to shun defectors was taken by party leader Rahul Gandhi during the 2022 elections. He said there would be no change in the party’s stand.
The Congress leader said voters had strongly endorsed the decision to keep defectors away from the party.
The Congress in Goa has faced a crisis twice—first in 2019, when a group of 10 MLAs left to join the BJP, and again in 2022, when a group of eight MLAs followed suit.
The party, which had won 11 of the 40 Assembly seats, is now left with only three MLAs in the Goa Legislative Assembly.
