The Congress is wooing Atanasio Monserrate, a former minister expelled from the party for "anti-party" activities, for the upcoming state assembly by-poll in Panaji against Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Speaking to reporters late on Thursday, after a meeting of Congress legislators, AICC General Secretary Chella Kumar said that Monserrate was in touch with the party and a decision on his candidature would be arrived at soon.
"All I can say is the Congress will field a formidable candidate against Parrikar. We are in talks with Monserrate. It seems positive. A decision will be made in a couple of days," Kumar said.
Monserrate was sacked from the Congress for anti-party activities in 2015.
The Panaji by-poll got necessitated after Parrikar, a former Defence Minister, was rushed back into the state politics by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in March earlier this year.
Parrikar, who heads a BJP-led coalition government, continues to be a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh and has announced his candidature from the Panaji assembly seat.
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Parrikar was an MLA from Panaji from 1994 to 2014, before he was elevated to the Union Cabinet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Defence Minister.
--IANS
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