Rahul Gandhi’s ambitious campaign to unite Indians from Kanyakumari to Kashmir may have triggered off a million minds to regain the idea of India but not for Congress in Goa. The party remains stagnant and a cosy club of a few as Goa Pradesh Congress Committee’s President Amit Patkar turns out to be another disaster in the making.

Patkar with Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao in tow was quick to jump into the Yatra photo-op with a Congress revival roadmap and Yatra Plan that is not known to most of the members of Goa Congress. A senior Congress leader rues “To be Frank if given an opportunity I would have participated in the entire yatra but no one was asked and no clarity”. He is not alone. Patkar and Alemao abandoned the rest of the Congress workers and leaders in the state and rushed to walk the Yatra in a state battered by BJP’s poaching of over 18 MLAs in less than 3 years.

The overenthusiastic Congress President leading a dysfunctional State Outfit could ask himself for starters why the Yatra touched all southern states Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and now Telangana but missed Goa. As the Yatra bypasses Goa multiple times to enter neighbouring Maharashtra in a week, the fact remains that Goa wasn’t trusted enough by Yatra Managers for its dubious Congress legacy. The migration of 8 of 11 Congress MLAs led by Leader of the Opposition Michael Lobo and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat to BJP was Goa’s contribution to smudge the s

Despite the routine photo-op with Rahul Gandhi with a roadmap in hand, the fact remains that Patkar like his predecessor Girish Chodankar was caught napping. But then, Goa Congress’ President is not an organisation man but another entitled man as his predecessor flaunting his proximity with the mythical ‘High Command’ to run the state.

Is this complete abandonment of Congress ranks to participate in the Yatra something to do with the presence of his predecessor who oversaw the Congress’ defeat in the Assembly 2022 Polls? What emerges is that Congress’ internal turf war is set to implode before 2024.