‘Trinamool to contest 2022 Goa polls, with eye on Mamata in 2024’

Panaji, Sep 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Trinamool Congress is contesting the upcoming Goa Assembly polls, but the party's eyes are actually on the 2024 general elections in which party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate, award-winning Konkani writer N. Shivdas said on Thursday.

Shivdas, who met IPAC head and ace political strategist Prashant Kishor in Kolkata earlier this week, along with an independent MLA from the state, also added that the Trinamool was in touch with sitting and former MLAs and several other aspirants.

"Now they are coming with a full preparations. They were not serious that time (2012 Assembly polls). Now they are very serious. They are introducing themselves in Goa as a national party. Their aim is the 2024 elections," Shivdas, who has served as the President of the Goa Konkani Academy and has also been a General Secretary of the Goa Congress in the recent past.

"She (Mamata) can be PM candidate (in 2024). They are preparing that way. They want to spread across the country. Their people have been fanning out in Goa for some time now.

"I met Prashant Kishor in Kolkata for half an hour. He wants good people in Goa, untainted persons. They want to start afresh," Shivdas said, adding that Kishor expressed confidence about Banerjee becoming the Prime Minister in 2024.

Earlier on Thursday, Trinamool MPs Derek O'Brien and Prasun Banerjee arrived in Goa and are expected to meet leaders of several political parties, along with some eminent personalities in the state.

Source: IANS