TMC to set up ad hoc committee in Goa to strengthen base

The Goa unit of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has decided to set up an ad hoc state-level executive committee with a view to strengthening its base in the state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Mamata Banerjee-led political outfit had failed to open its account in the Goa Assembly elections held in February this year despite a vociferous campaign.

Recently, the party-appointed cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad as its state in-charge, replacing Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra. On Friday, Azad, in the presence of party leader Derek O'Brien, held a meeting to take a stock of the party's future prospects in the BJP-ruled coastal state.

"It was decided that the party will install an ad hoc state executive committee with immediate effect for the state," a senior party functionary told PTI. Azad, during his interaction with the party leaders here, emphasised working with a renewed vigour in view of the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. "The ad hoc committee will work at the grassroots level. The party will declare its final committee later this year," he said.

The TMC had recently faced a setback in Goa after its state unit president Kiran Kandolkar quit the party along with two other members. The BJP, which won 20 seats in the 40-member House in the Assembly polls, returned to power with the support of two MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and three Independents. The MGP had contested the elections in alliance with the TMC.