Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar quits over poor show in local polls

Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar on Friday said he has resigned from his post taking responsibility for the party's poor performance in the recently held Zilla Panchayat (ZP) polls.

Chodankar said earlier this week he submitted his resignation from the post of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president to interim party chief Sonia Gandhi and state in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao.

The Congress had won only four Zilla Panchayat seats, out of the 49 where polling was held last week. The ruling BJP had bagged 32 seats.

Results of the Zilla Panchayat polls were announced on December 14.

"Taking full responsibility of the ZP results. I have tendered my resignation from the post of GPCC chief, he said without elaborating further.

Chodankar was appointed the GPCC chief in April 2018, replacing Shantaram Naik, a former Member of Parliament.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party had won one of the two seats in Goa.

Its candidate Francisco Sardinha was elected from South Goa defeating BJPs sitting MP Narendra Sawaikar.

Assembly polls in Goa are due in early 2022.