West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is planning to visit Goa. And it’s not for a beach vacation. The Trinamool Congress is gearing up for another electoral fight, and is looking to get a taste of Goan fish curry instead of the usual ‘machher jhol’. The TMC is planning to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the coastal state where elections will be held next year. Sources exclusively confirmed to News18 that a team of 200 people from poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) is working in Goa for the TMC.
Assembly polls are expected in the state around February 2022 and the Trinamool Congress appears confident of making its presence felt.
Since a decisive victory over the BJP in the high-stakes West Bengal assembly polls this year, Mamata and members of her party have repeatedly spoken about plans to expand Trinamool’s influence in other parts of the country ahead of the 2024 general elections. A strong push is already visible in BJP-ruled Tripura, which will have polls in 2023.
The TMC is likely to soon send a team of its MPs to Goa to get a feel of the ground. It has already held several meetings with some leaders of the state.
Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Lok Sabha lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee too is likely to visit Goa. The TMC chief will also visit thereafter and begin the campaign.
Why Goa, is the question many have asked. The TMC is rooted in Bengal and doesn’t have any presence in the coastal state, they have pointed out.
Goa has 40 assembly seats and is even smaller than Tripura. In the 2017 assembly elections, the Congress won 17 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party 13. Despite that, the BJP went on to form the government.
TMC sources said the party can take advantage of the fact that the Congress is weak in Goa. The people of the state essentially voted against the BJP and it still came to power, they said. Trinamool will make Goa residents understand that they can oust the BJP only if they vote for the TMC, they added, as otherwise MLAs from other outfits may switch to the saffron party even after the poll results.
Trinamool will also present its performance in Bengal before the people of Goa.
Since the April-May assembly election victory, the TMC has been trying to propagate the perception across the country that only Mamata Banerjee can stop the BJP poll juggernaut. Abhishek Banerjee too had spoken about his party’s national ambitions in June after being made its general secretary.
Sources said the TMC is looking to make an all-out bid in Goa. If it manages to put up a strong performance, they said, then Trinamool would have spread its influence from the eastern end of the country to the western end and can start projecting itself as the main national alternative to the BJP.
Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party also has its eyes set on Goa. Mamata Banerjee shares a good rapport with AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. Observers said it would be interesting to watch if the two parties manage to reach some sort of an agreement over Goa.
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