Goa state chief of the Trinamool Congress Party Kiran Kandolkar resigned on Wednesday 27th April 2022 alleging that the political strategist Prashant Kishor is responsible for the ‘humiliating defeat’ of the party in the recent assembly elections. It is notable that though the TMc has a major stronghold in West Bengal, it had attempted the recent assembly polls in Goa only to lose all the seats it contested in.
Kiran Kandolkar who was the working president of the Goa Forward Party had quit his party and joined the TMC in the run-up to the polls held in February this year.
Kiran Kandolkar addressed a press conference in which he alleged, “Prashant Kishor was responsible for the TMC’s humiliating defeat in Goa polls. He was in Goa to blackmail the Congress and eventually ended up helping the BJP to form the government again.”
When asked if joining TMC was a mistake, he said, “We did what we felt right at that time. It’s human to commit a mistake. We did commit a mistake.” Along with Kiran Kandolkar, Tarak Arolkar, and Sandeep Vazarkar have resigned from the primary membership of the TMC. Days before, Kandolkar’s wife Kavita Kandolkar had also resigned from the party owing to the pressure of the supporters.
As Kavita Kandolkar resigned, the Goa TMC tweeted, “We have decided to restructure the entire AITC Goa State Committee, with immediate effect. A newly constituted ad hoc committee will be announced shortly. We take this opportunity to reiterate our solemn commitment towards working for the people of Goa and their well-being.”
Kiran Kandolkar fought the recent assembly elections from Aldona while his wife Kavita fought from Thivim. Both of them lost in this election. Kandolkar called all the parties to unite against the Bharatiya Janata Party. He said that the BJP won only because the split of votes went in its favor. In the recently held assembly elections, the BJP secured 20 out of 40 seats. It was supported by 2 MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three independent MLAs to form the government.