KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has set her eyes on poll-bound Goa for expanding her party’s footprint especially in the BJP-ruled states. Mamata is set to reach the coastal state on October 28 as part of her two-day visit amid a strong buzz that the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) might join the TMC.
The Bengal chief minister is scheduled to attend a series of political events as her party is expecting more defections from other political parties following the move of former Goa chief minister Luizinho Falerio last month. Apart from Falerio, prominent Goan sports personalities — footballer Denzil Franco and boxer Lenny D’Gama — had also joined the TMC.
Ahead of Mamata’s Goa visit, the TMC launched a slogan in the coastal state— ‘Goanchi Navi Shokaal’ (New morning in Goa). Elections to the 40-member Goa assembly will be held early next year. “Her visit will be focused on the TMC’s stance in the coastal state’s politics. During Mamata’s visit, a few more prominent faces in Goa politics is likely to come to join our party. She will also hold meeting with some of the prominent faces who are known their anti-BJP views,’’ said a Trinamool leader.
The TMC has already decided to contest in all the 40 seats of Goa in the upcoming Assembly elections. Mamata has engaged MPs Derek O’Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Prasun Banerjee and cabinet minister Manoj Tiwari to camp in Goa for spreading the party’s agenda in the coastal state.
Other than the coastal state, the TMC is also eyeing to expand its base in Tripura with the target of the 2023 Assembly elections. “Before the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections, we will hoist our party flags in these two states by derailing the BJP-led government in Tripura and introducing the TMC-led government in Goa,’’ said a leader of the Bengal’s ruling party.