Goa polls: Major boost to TMC as 40 prominent grassroots leaders join party in single day

In a big boost for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Goa, over 40 prominent grassroots leaders defected to the party in a single day ahead of assembly elections. More than 40 members including former members of the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party joined Goa TMC in the presence of party president Mamata Banerjee and General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee at Dona Paula on Monday.

Some of the most prominent persons who joined the TMC include:

• Jose R Cabral (Raju), former INC leader
• Samil Volvoikar, former INC leader
• Rajesh D Naik, panch member, and former Sarpanch
• Julio Heredia, former panch member
• Nicholas Raposao, former panch member
• Mohan Priolkar, former panch member
• Former INC Block Committee members from Cumbarjua; Shailesh Gauns, Krishnanath Gauns, Manuel, Gomes, Albin Sequira, Sandip Kerkar, Tatu Gauns, Sanjiv Naik, Milind Tari, and Krishna Kopulla
• Tanvir Avti, Youth Leader
• Martha Saldanha, former AICC member, 6-time panch, 4-time sarpanch
• Shashank Desai, former Chairperson of Cuncolim Municipal Council
• Nilesh Navelkar, former councilor, Mormugao Municipal Council
• Rama Kankonkar, former AAP candidate and social activist
• Sanjay Dattatrey, former INC leader and RTI activist
• Navdeep Phaldesai, former INC and NSUI leader
• Pooja Joshilkar, National hockey player
• Elahi Shaikh, former AAP Spokesperson
• Abdul Kadeer Shaikh, former AAP leader
• Social workers Prisco Sequeira, Sham Chari, Datta Velip, Gourish Veilip, and Pradeep Gaonkar

TMC eyes success in Goa polls

The coastal state, along with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Punjab go to the polls in February 2022. After registering its third victory in West Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year, Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has increased its political footprint in Tripura and Goa, aiming to emerge as an alternative force to Congress. The party has joined hands with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) of Goa and has decided to field its candidates on all 40 seats in the Goa assembly.

The party has stepped up its election campaign with many posters featuring the TMC supremo's photo and the slogan 'Gonychi Navi Sakal' (Goa's new dawn) being displayed across the state. On September 29, ex-CM Luizinho Faleiro joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party along with ex-MGP MLA Lavoo Mamledar, Congress general secretaries Yatish Naik and Vijay Poi after which hundreds of other Congress leaders followed suit.  Incensed by the growing political capital of TMC, the Opposition Congress recently accused the party of indirectly helping BJP by dividing the secular votes.