P Chidambaram, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Digambar Kamat, Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar and other Congress activists stage a protest against Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in Panaji, Monday, Oct. 11, 2021.
Highlights
- The Congress managed to win 11 seats in the Goa Assembly polls
- Chodankar quit as Goa Congress chief while accepting moral responsibility for his party's poor show
- In 2017, Congress had emerged as the single largest party, but it failed to form govt
Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar has resigned from the post, taking moral responsibility for his party's poor performance in the recently concluded state Assembly elections. All India Congress Committee's Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao told PTI on Tuesday that Chodankar has sent his resignation to the AICC.
Chodankar was at the helm of affairs of the Congress during the recent elections held for the 40-member Goa Assembly.
The Congress managed to win 11 seats and its ally Goa Forward Party secured one seat, while the BJP emerged as the single largest party by bagging 20 seats. After the poll results were declared last Thursday, Chodankar had offered to quit while accepting moral responsibility for his party's poor show.
Sources in the Congress said Chodankar's resignation will be accepted and a new face will replace him. "Leaders like Sankalp Amonkar, Aleixo Sequeira and Elvis Gomes are front-runners for the post," they said.
Amonkar and Sequeira won the recent Assembly polls, while Gomes, a former bureaucrat, lost the election from Panaji Assembly seat.
The sources also did not rule out the possibility of the Congress considering senior leader Digambar Kamat, who won the poll Margao Assembly seat, for the top party post in the coastal state.
In the 2017 Goa Assembly polls, Congress had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 seats, but it failed to form a government. The BJP, which had then bagged 13 seats, came to power with the support of some regional parties and independents.
This time, Congress was hoping for a clear mandate to avoid the fiasco of 2017, but failed to win a majority.
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