Panaji, May 28 (PTI) A public meeting of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge scheduled for May 30 to mark the Goa Statehood Day here has been cancelled, the party leader said on Wednesday.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) senior vice president M K Sheikh told PTI that the meeting has been cancelled due to heavy rains predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on May 30.
“We wanted to organise a huge meeting of our president Mallikarjun Kharge, but due to rains, we won’t be able to hold it. We will hold the meeting after the monsoon,” he said.
Goa has been receiving torrential rains for the last four days following the onset of monsoon in the coastal state.
The much-publicised meeting on Friday would have marked Kharge’s maiden visit to the state after assuming charge of the party president in October 2022.
Goa desk-in-charge Manikrao Thakre had been personally overseeing the preparations for the event. However, he left Goa on Wednesday morning for Bengaluru.
Although calls to GPCC president Amit Patkar went unanswered, sources said the party’s lack of confidence to mobilise a significant crowd was the deciding factor for the abrupt cancellation.
GPCC vice president Sunil Kawthankar said the news of the cancellation of Friday’s meeting was conveyed to him by Patkar.
The Goa Congress has been battling a leadership vacuum after eight of its 11 MLAs joined the BJP in September 2022.
The party’s victory in the South Goa Lok Sabha seat last year was seen as a win for the INDIA bloc, backed by AAP and the Goa Forward Party, with no senior national leaders campaigning in the state.
Over the past few years, many Congress events, including the ‘Mhadei Jagor’, a membership drive and the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, could not be held in Goa despite the party making grand announcements. PTI RPS PTI RPS NR
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.