Congress has launched 'camouflage campaign': BJP

Panaji, May 16 (UNI) BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Singh Rudy today accused the Congress of launching a ''camouflage campaign'' in Goa by surreptitiously encouraging some of its candidates to contest the election under the banner of regional parties or as independents.

''The Congress is fully aware of the poor image of its government in Goa and has, therefore, resorted to such tactics,'' Mr Rudy told mediapersons here.

The condition of the Congress is so pathetic in Goa that even its ''loyal soldiers'' are leaving the party, he claimed.

The party, he said, had not explained as to why Joaquim Alemao, brother of Mr Churchill Alemao, was its official candidate even while the latter quit the Congress to lead the Save Goa Front, a regional outfit to accommodate proxy candidates of the Congress, Mr Rudy said.

''This is a 'deceit formula' that the Congress has adopted to misguide the Goans. Although Mr Churchil had snubbed the party over the last six months and even announced the day when he would resign from the Lok Sabha, he was not expelled,'' Mr Rudy pointed out.

The recent last-minute desertions by official Congress candidates is also a clear example of this strategy, The BJP spokesperson said while citing the example of former minister Atanasio Monserrate who quit the party at the last moment and joined the UDGP.

Mr Rudy also referred to Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane's son Vishwajit quitting the Congress to contest as an independent.

These instances indicate that the Congress is ''surreptitiously resurrecting its nominees in a camouflaged manner,'' he said.

The Congress hopes to ''cobble up a coalition of power-hungry individuals'' in the post-election scenario as part of this deceit strategy, saffron party leader pointed out.

Denying the Congress allegation that the BJP had made a secret deal with the Churchil, Mr Rudy said the BJP would secure a majority in Goa without the help of any other party.

The spokesperson claimed the BJP will get a clear mandate and the party will form an ''efficient, clean and responsive government under the able leadership Mr Manohar Parrikar''.

Mr Rudy said the people would foil the Congress' strategy of patching up a ''loose federation of unstable and independent members for forming the next government''.

UNI