Ahead of the Assembly election results on Thursday, the Congress has dispatched several senior leaders to four of the five States — Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Manipur — to deal with situations arising out of unclear verdict or close results.
Sources in the party said the leaders have been stationed in these States to prevent defections that have hurt the party in the past, particularly in Goa and Manipur. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi held meetings to discuss these pre-emptive moves following which the leaders are expected to act swiftly for stitching up alliances and tie-ups in the event of hung Assemblies as the results trickle in.
A couple of weeks ago, in an unusual move, the Congress had even made its Goa candidates take an oath of allegiance in Rahul’s presence.
AICC sources said the Congress wants to avert a repeat of the 2017 fiasco in Goa when the party failed to grab power despite emerging as the single largest party in the election. The Congress won 17 of 40 seats in Goa in the 2017 election but the BJP, after winning 13 seats, took power with help from smaller parties and independents.
Two years later, 15 Congress MLAs switched to the BJP, led by the Congress’ leader of the Opposition, Babu Kavlekar, who was made Deputy Chief Minister by the BJP. AICC desk in-charge of Goa, Dinesh Gundu Rao, with leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, and State Congress president Girish Chodankar, briefed Rahul over the “election scenario” and discussed strategies.