Margao: The bid to register a new outfit, ‘Goa Congress Party’, has exposed fresh fault lines within Goa Congress, with state president Girish Chodankar alleging a BJP-backed attempt to split the party’s vote base, while political observers attribute the development largely to internal dissent following his return to the GPCC leadership.Chodankar has alleged that BJP is funding the new outfit to divide the Congress vote, particularly in Salcete.Political analyst Prabhakar Timble said the proposed party appears to have emerged from disgruntled Congress functionaries who lost influence after the change in state leadership. He described it as a platform to settle internal scores rather than one driven by ideology. At the same time, Timble said BJP’s long-term objective of a “Congress-mukt Bharat” meant any split in Congress would ultimately serve the ruling party’s interests.Lawyer and political commentator Radharao Gracias also traced the development to discontent within Congress. He said the decision to replace Amit Patkar with Chodankar amounted to a step backward, noting that Chodankar had resigned after taking responsibility for the party’s defeat in the 2022 assembly elections. According to Gracias, disgruntled Congress workers and ticket aspirants are likely to gravitate towards the new outfit, splitting the anti-BJP vote and strengthening the ruling party. He argued that opposition unity would be crucial for challenging BJP in the 2027 assembly elections.The internal unease has also been highlighted in an open letter by political analyst and long-time Congress worker Vishal Pai Cacode to AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal ahead of his Goa visit. Pai Cacode questioned the absence of a second line of leadership, the continued reliance on leaders despite organisational and electoral setbacks, and the failure to reconstitute the political affairs committee since Nov 2022. He also alleged the presence of ideological “sleeper cells” within the state unit and criticised what he described as the party’s tendency to applaud political rivals instead of rebuilding its grassroots organisation. He urged Venugopal to use his visit for “genuine introspection”.With Venugopal scheduled to chair political affairs committee meetings during his two-day Goa visit, party insiders said the proposed Goa Congress Party and the discontent surrounding it are expected to dominate discussions.
