PM Modi accuses TMC of trying to split Hindu vote in Goa
The Trinamool Congress has made an open claim that they are trying to split the Hindu vote in Goa, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (February 14). Addressing an election rally in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, the PM called the Election Commission to take notice of this fact.
The tiny state of Goa, which has been ruled by the BJP for the past ten years, goes to polls today. The key parties contesting in Goa’s 40 assembly seats, are the BJP, its chief opposition party, the Congress and the new entrants — regional parties Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and TMC.
The West Bengal-based TMC, which has refrained from contesting the elections in UP, is however trying its luck in Goa in its efforts to become a national party.
Trinamool’s Mahua Moitra, who is the party in-charge for Goa, had recently told The Times of India that consolidation of the Hindu votes will not happen due to their alliance with the Sudhin Dhavalikar-led Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party or MGP.
She was reportedly referring to north Goa, where the MGP is locking horns with the BJP in nearly 13 out of the 14 seats. People in north Goa would not vote for the Congress, she maintained, adding that no party will form the government in Goa without help from their alliance.
The TMC has entered into a post-poll partnership with the MGP, which had helped the BJP to form the government in Goa after the 2017 elections. However, relations between the BJP and MGP had soured when Dhavalikar, a minister in the Manohar Parrikar-led BJP government in Goa, was summarily dropped in March 2019 when Pramod Sawant became CM.
Also read: V-day is D-day for Goa; is it BJP or Congress this time?
The MGP joining forces with the TMC in this 2022 assembly elections has rattled the BJP, which even went to the extent of pointing out that the “cultures” of the two parties “do not match”.
Uttar Pradesh elections
Meanwhile, speaking at the Kanpur rally, PM Modi also attacked Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, accusing them of “looting Uttar Pradesh day and night”.
According to the PM, ghor pariwarwadi (dynastic people) give a free hand to mafias. “They used to distribute different regions to people in their family, ” he said, adding that if these people had their way, they would have made Kanpur’s mafiaganj mohalla in every city.
He mocked the way people fight elections each time with a new partner. He took a dig at the Samajwadi Party’s tie-up with Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal, asking if such alliances would help the voter. This alliance however is the BJP’s biggest challenger in the state.
