Panaji (Goa) [India], February 24 (ANI): With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) deciding to leave space for the Congress party in Goa ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Goa Congress president Amit Patkar thanked all AAP leaders including the party workers for supporting the Congress' fight to defeat the 'Bhrasht Jumla Party' government.

"From the INDIA bloc, AAP and Congress have decided that both the seats from Goa, South Goa and North Goa, would be contested by the Congress. I want to thank the AAP leaders, Arvind Kejriwal, Sandeep Pathak and their Goa president Amit Palekar and their party workers who decided to come together with the Congress to defeat the 'Bhrasht Jumla Party' government," Amit Patkar said speaking to ANI on Saturday.

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Meanwhile, AAP Goa president Amit Palekar said that his party has decided to let Congress contest in both the Lok Sabha seats in the state in the larger interest of the INDIA bloc since they have observed that their rival, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been able to win in the state "only because of split of votes."

"We have decided to contest these seats as part of the INDIA Bloc. This is important since the seats that have been won as far as Goa is concerned, have been won only because of split of votes. BJP has been winning Goa only due to split of votes. 67 per cent of voters in Goa have been voting against BJP. They have been voting only because they have the advantage of split of votes," Palekar said speaking to ANI on Saturday.

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Earlier in the day, Congress general secretary and MP Mukul Wasnik said that as part of the seat-sharing deal, the Congress would be contesting both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa.

The BJP and the Congress won one seat each in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. While the BJP got 51.9 per cent votes, the Congress secured 43.6 per cent. In North Goa, the BJP won with a margin of 18.7 per cent votes. In South Goa, the Congress won with a margin of 2.3 per cent. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)