Khela Hobe: Trinamool to bring in 10,000 party workers from WB into Goa for Assembly polls

PANAJI: Senior sources associated with the All India Trinamool Congress’ internal plans for the Goa Assembly polls in February next year, said the party will bring in about 10,000 or more workers from West Bengal to campaign in Goa from November onward.

The Trinamool source said, “the TMC army comprising of over 10,000 trained party workers will be stationed in Goa from November till the time the polls are held. This is the same core team of workers that helped Didi defeat the BJP poll juggernaut in the WB State polls. The TMC plans to contest in at least 10-12 constituencies in Goa and is also looking for a local alliance partner or local leaders with a decent personal voter base of their own. These 10,000+ TMC workers will work along-side the candidates’ team in each of the 10-12 constituencies to ensure a 100 percent victory in the polls,” the source said.

The TMC has learnt a lot from the last time it contested in Goa. “We will not make the same mistakes. We will not rely and depend on the local candidates’ teams. We will be bringing in our own teams from WB to campaign here,” the TMC leader said.

When queried about the cost and expenses of such a huge campaign, he refused to comment.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien on Saturday speaking to media persons in Goa, confirmed his party would be contesting the next year’s Goa Assembly polls.

He was was however, non-committal and refused to comment on alliances with local parties.

The party will announce its Chief Ministerial candidate soon, he added.

“We are here as a serious contender against the ruling BJP,” O’Brien told news agency PTI.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor and a team of nearly 200 workers are already camped in Goa since the last two weeks doing the groundwork for the polls and testing the waters, besides meeting prospective candidates and civil society members.

The Mamata Banerjee-led party has no “high-command culture” and will pick credible local leaders in the coastal state, O’Brien told media persons in Goa today.

Since arriving in Goa on Friday, Derek O’Brien has been meeting representatives of civil society as well as political leaders in back-to-back meetings and shortlisting names for further deliberations.

The Congress is in a great deal of turmoil in Goa and the rest of India, a situation that the TMC wants to exploit.

Taking advantage of the Congress’ internal turmoil, the TMC got the All India Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev into their fold and sent her to the Rajya Sabha.

Dev has been entrusted with building the TMC’s organisation in Assam and Tripura.

It has similar plans in store for former Goa CM and senior Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro who will probably be the face of the TMC in Goa – an announcement which is expected as early as next week, if not in the first week of October when the TMC announces the official existence its Goa unit.