Panaji : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Goa convenor Elvis Gomes has said that the atmosphere has not been conducive for the party to contest the bypolls in Panaji and Valpoi. In a statement here, he said the party had fielded candidates in 39 constituencies during the Goa Assembly elections that were held five months back.
“However, the party did not receive good response from the people. Secondly, we feel that current political situation is for self-power, and not in the interest of the people. This situation does not suit to our party. Let the voters decide whom they want to vote for. The AAP will wait and watch,” he said. Mr Gomes said the party has already started working to strengthen the organisation at grassroots level, as the party had failed to perform well in the last Assembly elections despite fielding new faces. “We had tried to introduce a new brand of politics with the promise of corruption-free governance. But the people of Goa did not accept us. Now, we have decided to take more time to strengthen the party base. We are strengthening our party base in the state with fresh dialogue with the people. Now the party will totally rely on its own volunteers who have been guided. Our volunteers, including me, have already started visiting remote villages of Goa. Recently, we visited Vavurla village of Quepem taluka which lacks in basic facilities including road. The state government is trying to portray that it has brought about development in villages. But it is not so, in reality. Villagers have been grappling with lots of problems, and the AAP is trying to understand them by meeting the people,” the AAP leader said. UNI
