Panaji,  The Congress in Goa on Thursday took potshots at the Trinamool Congress, a day after West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's political strategist Prashant Kishor said that the BJP would be at the centre of Indian policy in the near future.

 

"Since last 1month TMC landed in Goa, I have always said that @AmitShah & #ED were behind sending @AITCofficial to #Goa. Now, their strategist whose services are hired has confirmed my apprehensions when he said BJP is here to stay. #TMC is here to divide the votes. Agenda exposed," state Congress president Girish Chodankar tweeted.

Kishor, while speaking at an interaction at an art gallery late on Wednesday had also said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was perhaps wrong to assume that it was only a matter of time before the ruling BJP would be voted out by the country's voters.

"The BJP is going to be the centre of Indian polity whether they win, whether they lose like it was for the first 40 years for the Congress. BJP is going nowhere. Once you secure 30 plus per cent votes at the India level you are not going away in a hurry. So do not ever get into this trap that people are getting angry and they will throw away Modi. Maybe they will throw away Modi but BJP is not going anywhere, you have to fight it out for next many decades," Kishor had said.

"That is where the problem lies with Rahul Gandhi probably, he thinks that it is just a matter of time when people will throw him away. That's not happening... Unless you examine, understand and take cognizance of his (Modi's) strength, you will never be able to put a counter to defeat him. The problem, I see, is most people are not spending enough time or understanding his strengths to understand what is making him popular. Only if you know then you can find a counter," he also said.

After crushing defeats in the 2012 assembly polls and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Goa, the Trinamool Congress has announced that it will contest all 40 assembly seats in the 2022 assembly polls in Goa.