BIG BREAKING: Congress considering Priyanka Gandhi for South Goa Lok Sabha seat?

NEW DELHI: According to media reports, while Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is almost set to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Rae Bareli, a voice in the Congress AICC claimed that even South Goa was being considered as an option. The party does not want to lose the seat, which is a traditional Congress stronghold and could even consider fielding a senior national leader in the constituency.

After the BJP fielded Pallavi Srinivas Dempo – wife of Goan industrialist Srinivas Dempo as their candidate, the Congress high command began to rework their strategies. The bickering between some factions in the Congress Goa unit – namely the Girish Chodankar faction and the group supporting Captain Viriato Fernandes could well be a smoke screen or façade to throw the BJP election planners off track, said the source. This development also probably explains why GPCC President Amit Patkar has suddenly gone incommunicado and had even switched off his mobile phone for two days.

“The entire Congress voter and karyakarta base, including the alliance partners in South Goa can be galvanized into action within a span of a few days if a national leader of the stature of Priyanka Gandhi were to be declared as the candidate. It will take only 2-3 days to create a frenzy, if Priyanka Gandhi is contesting from South Goa. For the last few days, there has been gossip about the Congress “importing” a candidate from outside for the South Goa seat and more likely a ‘woman candidate’. It is only today that Priyanka Gandhi’s name has cropped up in some quarters,” the source said, adding that if there are factions, they will get ‘dissolved’ if a name like Priyanka Gandhi comes up.

Even though no official announcement was made, Pradeep Singhal, district Congress president from Amethi had told the Times of India a month ago that Priyanka Gandhi is very likely to contest from Rae Bareli.

The Congress high command on Tuesday had deputed two Observers to South Goa to undertake a “secret” survey. Even the LoP Yuri Alemao and other senior leaders have not been informed, our source said. The survey is already underway and the Observers who reached Goa on Wednesday are to submit their findings by Friday.

“The observers reached Goa on Wednesday and have already started their work in South Goa. They are visiting various  areas in the constituency and have been given a very clear assignment to focus on Ponda, Shiroda, Cuncolim, Quepem, Curchorem, Sanvordem, Sanguem and Canacona which have a huge ‘silent voter’ base,” our source informed.

“If a strong Goan candidate who can win the election is not identified, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra remains an option. Maybe she may contest from both seats Rae Bareli as well as South Goa,” our source said, adding that the party will not let the seat slip away from their hands.

Meanwhile Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers from Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha seat today. Rahul, accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi and other senior party leaders including AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, submitted his nomination papers to the Wayanad District Collector who is also the Returning Officer. Earlier, K C Venugopal filed his nomination from Alappuzha constituency in Kerala.