Cong-NCP alliance talks left to the party high command: GPCC

Panaji, Apr 21 (UNI) The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Ravi Naik today refused to comment whether his party will have an alliance with the NCP for the June 2 state Legislative Assembly elections, saying the decision was totally left with the party high command.

Addressing the mediapersons here, Mr Naik said the party's top bosses in New Delhi would decide on the matter after April 23.

The NCP leadership here had earlier threatened to sever its relations with the Congress and explore pre-poll alliance with other regional/like-minded parties, if the Congress failed to concede its demand for allocating ten seats which had hitherto been held by the opposition to keep the ''communal forces at bay'' in the coming elections.

He said the GPCC had also left the decision to initiate a disciplinary action against South Goa Congress MP Churchil Alemao for his ''anti-party'' activities with the party high command.

Mr Churchil had spearheaded a vituperative campaign against the Congress leadership in Goa, alleging corruption and failure in several fronts. He had decided to resign from the membership of the Parliament and the party on May 10 and contest from Navelim constitueucy for the June 2 elections on behalf of the Goa Bachao Front (GBF), a regional outfit.

Mr Naik said the ticket selection committee, headed by him would meet here on Monday for shortlisting the names of the party candidates out of 168 aspirants, who had applied for tickets, and forward the list to the Central Election Committee for finalising the names.

Whether the party would contest all the 40 seats or not would again be decided by the high command, which will take into consideration all the factors such as winnability, loyalty and performance of the candidates in their respective constituencies for the elections, he said.

To a question, Mr Naik said the GPCC had not yet decided as to who would trigger the election campaign in Goa, but assured that the party president Sonia Gandhi would address two meetings--one at Mapusa in North Goa and the other at Margao in South Goa.

Besides Prime Minister and Finance Minister, youth leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka, if necessary, would also be involved in the electioneering, he informed.

Earlier, in a meeting, the GPCC president had directed the members of the coordination committee including PCC members, block presidents, district office bearers and legislators to strictly adhere with the election code of conduct.

Meanwhile, the GPCC has forwarded the Goa-specific party manifesto for approval of the party high command. It would be the ''people-oriented manifesto'' reflecting the aspirations of all segments of the society, he added.

UNI