Panaji: Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said that giving party tickets to the habitual defectors in Goa was the “shameful chapter.”
Chidambaram was addressing workers at Canacona Assembly constituency in South Goa in presence of party’s Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat and others.
“I was shocked to learn that the defector was given a ticket; not once, not twice but thrice. That is a shameful chapter of Congress history,” he said, indirectly referring to Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes, who got elected on Congress ticket in 2017 but later switched over to BJP along with nine other party MLAs in the year 2019.
“I have come to assure you that the shameful chapter has been closed. Never again, we will repeat that shameful chapter,” he said.
Chidambaram said “I promise you on the behalf of the leadership of Congress party that shameful chapter will never ever be repeated again in Goa.”
The former minister said that the challenge before Congress is to redeem the reputation and honour of the Congress party (in Goa).
“I know that Congress workers have been totally loyal to the party. Everytime you have elected Congress candidate. That victory is your victory,” he commented.
Hailing the Congress workers, Chidambaram said “you worked hard, you campaigned in the constituency, you went door to door, you shouted slogans, you pasted posters, you carried flags, you knocked on the door of everyone and asked for vote and the candidate won.”
“While you remained loyal to the party, the winning candidate betrayed the party,” he said referring to the MLAs switching over their ideologies to the BJP.
Chidambaram said that the party will “not impose the candidate in the constituencies.” “You will recommend the candidate. That is why we are identifying the active members who will decide the candidate,” he added.
