Congress will win polls, take other non-BJP parties along: Chidambaram tells Goa leaders

The Congress on Monday expressed confidence of winning the state assembly polls on March 10, with senior party leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram also telling the party's candidates that non-BJP parties would also be taken onboard in government-formation efforts, even if the Congress wins a majority on its own.

Speaking to reporters, former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat also said that the party would not repeat its mistakes in 2017, when despite emerging as the single-largest party, the Congress was beaten in the race for power by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"Chidambaram has just told us, even if the party gets a majority, the Congress would like to associate all non BJP parties with it," Kamat told reporters after a meeting of the party's candidates and their respective election agents, which was chaired by Chidambaram, All India Congress Committee senior observer in-charge of elections.

Also Read: Congress open to post-poll alliance with non-BJP parties in Goa

"We feel that our party will win a clear majority and will come to power in alliance with Goa Forward," Kamat also said.

The Congress in alliance with the Goa Forward party (three seats) has contested in 37 seats out of the 40 assembly seats on offer in Goa.

AICC secretary in-charge of Goa Dinesh Gundu Rao also said that the party's winning candidates would elect its legislative party leaders within minutes of the results being declared on March 10.

"As soon as the entire results are out, we will have a CLP meeting, within a few minutes we will elect a CLP leader and we will go and stake the claim," Rao told reporters.

"What happened in 2017 will not happen this year. We are together, we are prepared. We won't allow the repetition of what happened in 2017. This time the Congress will form the government and there will be no scope for anything else to happen," he said.

"Those issues will not come into the picture. We will take decisions at the right time. There will be no delay and as soon as the results are out, we will stake claim and as per the Constitution, the Governor has to follow the rules and I don't see any reason for anything to go wrong this time," he added.

On Monday, most exit polls have predicted a tough fight between the Congress and the BJP, with the Congress having a slight edge.

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