Mamata to visit poll-bound Goa next week, seek wider turf

The move evoked derision from the BJP, which called it sheer “political tourism”. Elections to the 40-member Goa assembly will be held early next year. “After returning from her north Bengal visit, the TMC chief will leave for Goa on October 28 on a two-day visit. She will hold meetings with party leaders in the coastal state. Her itinerary, however, is yet to be finalised,” he said.

The Trinamool Congress, after its stunning victory in the West Bengal assembly elections earlier this year, is trying to increase its footprint nationally and has made inroads in BJP-ruled Goa and Tripura. Although TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had ruled out the possibility of allying with any other party for the upcoming assembly polls in Goa, the party supremo is likely to meet leaders of smaller political outfits in the state.

Faliero made TMC nat’l vice president

Lays after he joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party has appointed Goa’s former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro as its vice president. “The chairperson of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Mamata Banerjee takes great pride in appointing Luizinho Faleiro as the national vice president of the party with immediate effect,” TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said.