TMC ‘serious’ about Goa elections, ‘in talks’ with leaders from other parties

Senior TMC leaders, including some party MPs and MLAs, are expected to be stationed in Goa for about five months in the run-up to the Assembly polls. The party is expected to announce its electoral plans in October.

Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, who arrived in Goa on Friday, said, “Whatever we do in Goa will be for, of, and by the people of Goa.”

The party has said that it will not follow a “high command culture” like in the Congress or BJP but let the people from Goa coming on board decide the course they want to take in the state.

A team from political strategist Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) has been assessing the political situation in Goa for about three months. The political advocacy group, which advised TMC before the Assembly polls in West Bengal, will continue to work with the party in Goa. The party has also launched its Goa pages on social media.

Sources said TMC is “very serious” about contesting elections in the state with an eye on expanding its national footprint. The party is aiming to make gains in states such as Goa and Tripura to strengthen Banerjee’s position as a national leader, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most formidable opponent before the 2024 General Election.

The BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena and now TMC will be in the poll fray in Goa, in addition to regional parties such as Goa Forward Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.