Headlines
AAP win could help Congress in Goa: Congress
Panaji, Feb 10
The Aam Aadmi Party's sweeping
victory in Delhi could have a bearing on the Panaji bye-election due Feb
13, the Congress said Tuesday.
Speaking to IANS, Congress
spokesperson Ramakant Khalap said the rout of the BJP in the national
capital could bode well for its Congress candidate contesting the
bye-poll.
"The BJP has got a drubbing and the Congress too has
been wiped out from Delhi. But the result is against the arrogance of
the BJP which will help us here," Khalap said, adding his party could
benefit from a "swing from the voters who are beginning to get
disillusioned by the BJP".
The Panaji bye-poll was necessitated after the elevation of Manohar Parrikar as defence minister in November.
Four
candidates are contesting, which includes Parrikar's former aide
Sidharth Kunkolienkar (BJP), the current mayor Surendra Furtado
(Congress) and two independents.
The key battle is expected to be a close contest between the Congress and the BJP.
The
BJP in Goa, while admitting that the loss in Delhi was disastrous, adds
that it will not affect the polling pattern in Panaji.
"The
party's showing in Delhi was unexpected and is disastrous. Sitting in
Goa I cannot speculate why. It will not have any effect on the election
in Goa," party spokesperson Wilfred Mesquita said.
Jubilant AAP
party workers in Goa have been taking to the social media about the
possibility of their party using Goa's 2017 elections as a launch pad
for its national ambitions. But the party's senior leaders are more
circumspect in electoral terms.
"We are over the moon. It
reaffirms that the idea of AAP is not dead. For the local unit, this
means a lot," says spokesperson Oscar Rebell