Congress is upping the ante in poll-bound Goa with its General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi hitting the Goan streets on Friday, as the party is looking at a close contest with the ruling BJP though it makes light of new entries like Trinamool Congress.
With former Congress president Rahul Gandhi taking special interest in the state, the party has lined up a series of events for Priyanka during the day, including lunch with tribal women in Morpila village followed by an interaction with Mollem students at Margao and women's convention 'Priyadarshini' in Costa Ground.
She will also interact with Mahila Congress office bearers and attend a function inducting Captain Viriato Fernandes. She would begin her programmes in Goa by laying a wreath at the martyr's memorial in Assolna.
Sources said Congress is confident about its prospects in Goa as the Pramod Sawant-led government is "facing huge anti-incumbency" though a section of leaders acknowledge that the fight is very close, owing to lower number of votes in constituencies.
There is also apprehension about how the voters will perceive the desertion of around a dozen MLAs out of 17 elected on Congress ticket in 2017 jumping ship and joining the BJP soon after the Assembly polls. Sources said the Congress has decided not to give tickets to the 2017 deserters and conveyed it to a couple of them who reached out to the party.
A similar perception about the MLAs who jumped the Congress ship was shared by senior Trinamool Congress leaders who were looking for possible candidates in the state.
Senior Congress leaders also discount the impact Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress or Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP have in Goa.
The party is already in discussions with the NCP and Shiv Sena has now said that it is exploring alliance with Congress in Goa. Sena's Sanjay Raut met Rahul and Priyanka in the last two days and is learnt to have hinted about it among other things.
In a boost for the Congress, the Goa Forward Party chief Vijay Sardesai, party MLA Vinod Palyekar and an independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar met Rahul recently and pledged support.
The GFP chief's meeting came weeks after Trinamool Congress attempted to woo the party to its fold. However, GFP and Trinamool could not find a way forward as the latter wanted Sardesai, who left Congress in 2012 after being denied a seat to contest the Assembly polls then, to merge his party, which he refused.
On Wednesday, Rahul also held a meeting with party's senior observer in Goa P Chidambaram and in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao on the poll preparations in the state.
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