Panaji: Congress and the Revolutionary Goans (RG) held a meeting on Monday to discuss a common manifesto for the alliance, including scrapping Section 39A, addressing Goa’s financial burden and seat-sharing arrangements.AICC Goa in-charge Anjali Nimbalkar said no decision had been taken on seats or constituencies and that further discussions would be held in the coming days.“This is the third meeting since we formally thought of going together. We discussed how we will work on a combined manifesto that is beneficial to Goans. The manifesto will look at scrapping of 39A, the financial burden on Goans, which govt and the CM are increasing by holding event after event,” Nimbalkar said.Nimbalkar said both parties had their own priorities, and further discussions were needed to arrive at a consensus.“We discussed how to go about seat sharing. Numbers were not discussed, nor were any constituencies. In the coming days, probably in the next meeting, we will also talk about the number and constituencies that will be shared by the Congress and RG,” Nimbalkar said.RG state president Shavina Naik Shirodkar said securing safeguards for persons of Goan origin (POGO), scrapping Section 39A of the Goa Town and Country Planning Act and sustainable tourism policies remained priorities for the party.“We had submitted these issues last time, but now we have discussed them extensively. We don’t want to do anything in haste. We want a thoughtful and strategic discussion,” Shirodkar said.RG MLA Viresh Borkar, who attended the meeting along with Shirodkar, said he had no information about founder-president Manoj Parab making a possible comeback. Borkar said the party’s focus was on strengthening the alliance.Nimbalkar said the doors remained open if any other party wished to join the Congress-RG alliance, but a decision would be taken only after discussions with RG.“If anyone, not only GFP but also AAP, wants to join the main alliance, we will first discuss with RG and then decide. Nobody has approached us so far. Whatever will be done henceforth will be done after discussion with the alliance partners, and a decision will be taken in a combined manner,” Nimbalkar said.
