Trinamool in Goa like mushroom in monsoon: Congress

The Congress Monday compared the newly-emerged Trinamool Congress in Goa to a mushroom growing in the monsoon, saying the party had just come up at the height of the electoral season and would not have much impact.

“The Trinamool Congress (TC) is in a nascent stage… It is like a mushroom which springs up only in the rainy season,” Congress state working president Francisco Sardinha told reporters here.

The Trinamool which opened its offices here in Goa last month, has appointed former chief minister Dr Wilfred de Souza as its chief. De Souza is known to have a following amongst the Catholic population of north Goa, which has been considered a secure votebank of the Congress.

Congress insiders also say that the 20-plus candidates fielded by the Trinamool and the rebel Congressmen, who have not been given tickets, could eat into the Congress vote bank and thus benefit the opposing alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Maharashtrwadi Gomantak Party (MGP).

Goa has a Catholic population of nearly 26 per cent in a population of 14 million.

Sardinha, however, sarcastically said that the status of the Trinamool Congress in Goa was exactly like the Trinamool Congress, hinting that the new entity would not affect the Congress votebank.

“The status of Trinamool Congress is like the Trinamool Congress. People do not like to waste their votes. People want to see people they vote for come to power,” he said.