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Updated December 17th, 2021 at 19:08 IST

Devendra Fadnavis calls Congress 'part-time' party; says Delhi, Bengal outfits in Goa to experiment

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday took a dig at the Congress, saying that it is now a "part-time" party

PTI
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Panaji, Dec 17 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday took a dig at the Congress, saying that it is now a "part-time" party which is slowly vanishing from the country, and added that parties from Delhi and West Bengal have arrived in Goa ahead of the Assembly elections to carry out their experiments and to create division.

The Congress hit back at Fadnavis for his 'part-time' party remark and said the BJP has failed to produce any formidable leader in Goa and hence it has to poach functionaries from other parties to shore up its ranks, and pointed out that it lost power in adjoining Maharashtra in 2019.

Besides the Congress, Fadnavis also targetted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which rules Delhi, and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is in power in West Bengal. Both these parties have announced their decision to contest the assembly polls in Goa due in early 2022.

Slamming the TMC and Banerjee, the former Maharashtra CM said there is no democracy left in West Bengal and that the state is at the top in terms of unemployment and crime.

Fadnavis, who is BJP's election in-charge of Goa, was addressing a gathering in Panaji after the induction of former Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte into the party fold. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and BJP's state unit chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade were also present on the occasion.

"People are here for experiment. They want to conduct experiment of their own (political) parties in Goa. But Goans are wise enough to understand all this. Goans know who will be with them and who will fly away after the election," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

Fadnavis claimed that political parties from Delhi and Kolkata have come to the BJP-ruled Goa only to create division and play their own politics.

"When they lose election, they disappear for five years only to return during the next election. They don't have any plan or programme for the development of Goa," he added.

Fadnavis said that the Congress is slowly vanishing from the country.

"The Congress has remained a part-time party in the country. Congress leaders are part-time, they don't get into full-time politics and hence their party has also become a part-time party," he said.

The Congress leaders are running the party for the sake of it, he added.

"They want to run the party on its past accomplishments, but that has also got over. Even old leaders are no more with them," he said.

Fadnavis said the TMC has started claiming that it is the 'original' Congress.

"But I want to question Mamata didi that if your administration is good, then why is West Bengal in a bad situation?" he said.

He asked why investors are not coming to West Bengal and why the state tops the list in unemployment and crime rate.

"There is no democracy in West Bengal. If any opposition party leader raises any issue, in the next four days, you will find him hanging," Fadnavis alleged.

The BJP leader said he was surprised to know that a Goa-based outfit like the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), which understands the political situation in the state and knows its history, has joined hands with the TMC.

Fadnavis also took a dig at the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, saying the "party shows only trailer, but no movie".

"They go everywhere to show the trailer. You know that trailer of every film is always a hit. But when you actually see the movie, you realise that whatever was shown in the trailer is not there," he said.

Meanwhile, Goa Congress spokesperson Rakhi Prabhudesai Naik hit out at Fadanavis for the "part-time" party remark and asserted he should first accept that fact that his party has failed to produce any formidable leader due to which the BJP has to poach figures from other political outfits.

Naik said the ex-Maharashtra chief minister should realise that he lost power to the same so called part time party in his own state.

The Congress is a key constituent of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.

In Goa, she said, the BJP had to depend on other parties like a "parasite" for its survival.

“Even now when elections are nearing, it has no leaders of its own and is importing faces fearing its seat tally will be reduced to a single digit after next polls,” Naik said.

The Congress spokesperson said the BJP in Goa has pinned hopes on leaders borrowed from other political parties to win the next elections.

“Minus bags of money, the BJP has nothing to offer,” she said. 

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Published December 17th, 2021 at 19:08 IST

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