PANAJI: Announcing keenness on forming an alliance with Congress or any other secular party for the forthcoming assembly elections slated next year, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel on Monday said that the party would field 8-10 candidates.
Patel was speaking at the sidelines of the function held to unveil a logo for first BRICS under-17 football tournament which will feature five BRICS member nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, at Bambolim stadium. Patel said, “We will certainly contest on 8-10 seats and are looking at the prospective candidates who are within the party and those who want to associate or who were with the party in the past.”
NCP in alliance with Congress had fought 2012 Goa legislative assembly election but had failed to win even a single seat.
Calling upon all secular forces to unite against the BJP, the NCP leader said that NCP alone cannot defeat the BJP hence it is the responsibility of all secular parties to work together to defeat BJP-MGP coalition. He said, “Goa cannot afford to have fundamentalist forces and hard-line communal forces. People of Goa need secular government considering its multi-cultural nature. We are ready for secular alliance, be it with Congress or any other secular party.”
Describing AAP’s performance as disappointing, Patel said AAP government has terribly failed in Delhi and it is not an alternative for the people of Goa. People should visit Delhi and check the ground reality before taking it as an alternative, he added.