Resigned to consolidate 'fragmented' Congress -TMC, YSRCP, NCP to take on BJP: Faleiro

Panaji (Goa) [India], September 27 (ANI): Former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro on Monday asserted that there is a need to unify all the fragments of the Congress party including Mamata's TMC, Jagan Mohan reddy's YSRCP, and Sharad Pawar's NCP to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre and state level.

Claiming to be a staunch Congressman, he said, "I have definitely resigned as a member of the Legislative Assembly. My resignation is a call for unification. I have not resigned from Congress. I belong to the Congress family. I have resigned as an MLA to fulfill my dream to consolidate, strengthen and unify the Congress family at state and national levels."

His statement comes after he submitted his resignation as an MLA to the Speaker of Goa Assembly after he resigned from the Congress party in Goa. Faleiro has also given resignation from the primary membership of the party, confirmed the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Goa Dinesh Gundu Rao.

"Today, Congress family is fragmented. On one side we have got Mamata-Congress, YSR-Congress, Sharad Pawar-Congress. Congress is divided. Congress is weak," Faleiro said while addressing a press conference here today.

"Congress has been a movement started by the father of our nation, by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, by Sadar Patel, Indira Gandhi, Ranjiv Gandhi. I believe in Congress' ideologies, its philosophies, its principles, and its programmes, and for what it has stood all along in the history of the country," he said.

"We are going to fight the divisive forces that are ruling at the Centre and the state. There is a need for a unified Congress. There is a need for Congress to come together," he added.

He also said that the history of Congress is a "history of proud India."

"Our enemy is BJP," noted the veteran leader.

Faleiro also highlighted that "divisive forces" are destroying the country and the state of Goa.

"We will ensure that Congress once again a party, a movement which has brought this country freedom will also bring freedom to this country from these divisive forces, which are destroying this country and this state," he said.

After Faleiro quit Congress, there have been speculations that he will join Trinamool Congress led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"I will support Mamata-Congress because she has fought, she has succeeded. Being a woman, she symbolises woman empowerment, which can bring this country back on the rails of development and progress," he said during the conference today.

Earlier today, he expressed support towards Mamata Banerjee and said, "Mamata Banerjee is the only leader in the country who has the ability to challenge the ruling government at the Centre."

He was recently appointed as the Chairman of the Election Coordination Committee for Goa Assembly polls and was All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of North-Eastern states. (ANI)