John Fernandes wants BJP to win: NCP

Nilkanth Halarnkar said John is creating so much chaos within the Congress that the BJP is bound to benefit

The newly appointed state Congress president wants the Bharatiya Janata Party to win in Goa, NCP's state unit chief Nilkanth Halarnkar said Tuesday.

Halarnkar told reporters chaos was being triggered by the disciplinarian Congress state chief John Fernandes.

"It looks like he (Fernandes) wants the BJP to win. He is creating so much chaos within the Congress that the BJP is bound to benefit," Halarnkar said, even as the poll-bound Congress has been wrought by conflict between Fernandes and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP).

An anti-incumbency sentiment had routed the erstwhile ruling Congress in Goa reducing the party to nine seats in the last state polls.

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have been squabbling for the past few months over the two Lok Sabha seats in Goa, and state Congress president Fernandes has gone on record that the party high command was not interested in an alliance in Goa.

"Instructions to me from my high command are clear. We want to contest both seats," Fernandes has said.

Halarnkar thinks the contrary and claims that the Congress in Goa is weak and has failed to take on the BJP-led ruling coalition.

"The Congress is a weak opposition. It is not taking up any issues exposing the government. But we need them to defeat the BJP, which is a common enemy," Halarnkar said.

The NCP has been angling for the North Goa seat, which saw a unique collaborative experiment, when Jeetendra Deshprabhu quit the Congress and join the NCP weeks ahead of the last Lok Sabha polls.