Lawmaker Digvijaya Singh Urges Splinter Groups To Join Congress To Fight BJP

Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh today said Congress will go it alone in the Goa Assembly polls even as he appealed to splinter groups to join the party to take on BJP.

"We are prepared for all 40 seats. Whoever wants to fight BJP, they should join our party...They should contest on our ticket. Seat sharing is done where there is a political ideology. How can you fight BJP by forming splinter groups? They should come to mainstream Congress," Mr Singh said.

Political parties like Goa Forward and NCP have expressed willingness to align with Congress to fight BJP in the Assembly polls.

Asked if his party will declare its chief ministerial candidate in advance, he said, "Congress usually doesn't declare its CM candidates except for a few places. In parliamentary democracy, elections are fought on ideology - Based on that we will ask people to vote for us. We want to give a clean government. We want to maintain the clean character of the state."

Mr Singh attributed the mistakes committed in the Congress' rule in Goa during 2007-2012 to the alliance with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.

MGP had a tie up with Congress before it stitched a coalition with BJP in 2012.

"Last time, we were in an alliance with MGP. We did not have absolute majority, many legislators pressurised us due to which we had to make compromises. We wish to win an absolute majority in 2017 so that we do not have to do make compromises again," he said.