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After ZP poll debacle, Goa Congress unit president quits post | Goa News – Times of India

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PANAJI: President of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Girish Chodankar, has stepped down from his post and has refused to budge from his decision, senior party functionaries said on Thursday.
Chodankar has taken moral responsibility for the party’s debacle at the December 12 zilla panchayat polls, they said, and conveyed his decision to resign to interim Congress national president Sonia Gandhi, on Wednesday.
Interestingly, when Chodankar decided to dash off a letter to Sonia Gandhi and step down as state party chief, he kept the entire party leadership in the dark.
While a demand for a change of guard in the state unit’s leadership was inevitable and was largely anticipated in view of the party’s decimation in the elections, Chodankar’s swift and silent move caught even the party’s executive committee unawares.
“I have not spoken to Girish till now, so I don’t know the reasons for his resignation,” said leader of the opposition Digambar Kamat, who was along with party vice-president Sankalp Amonkar, general secretary Amarnath Panjikar, and the two district presidents, Vijay Bhike and Joe Dias, claimed he was caught off-guard by Chodankar’s move.
While Chodankar continues to remain incommunicado, South Goa district Congress chief Joe Dias visited his residence and managed to meet him briefly.
“He has resigned and is firm on his decision,” said Dias. When asked for a further statement, Dias said the Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao will be in a better position to comment on the matter and the party’s next steps.
This is the second time Chodankar has offered to step down. He had resigned as the state Congress president last July after the Lok Sabha elections due to “moral reasons”, following the resignation of Rahul Gandhi as the party’s national president. However, as his resignation was rejected, Chodankar continued to function as the state president.
If his resignation is accepted this time, it will once again lead to a realignment of political forces within Congress and the other political parties that have been urging Congress to explore an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the 2022 state assembly elections.
Importantly, Chodankar had staunchly opposed any alliance with Goa Forward Party (GFP), which is keen on putting together a united opposition to take on the might of BJP. GFP president Vijai Sardesai had, at a press conference on Tuesday, attributed BJP’s sweeping victory to “lack of (credible) political alternative” to the voters. “And the blame for this stops at the principal opposition party,” he had said.
Sources said Chodankar was perceived as a roadblock towards formation of a grand alliance of opposition parties ahead of the 2022 assembly polls.
Demand for Chodankar’s ouster had also begun to emanate from within Congress following the ZP polls. On Wednesday, South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha had blamed the state Congress leadership for the party’s decimation in the hustings. Sardinha, without naming anybody, had said that “political novices” were taking decisions while ignoring senior Congressmen.
“We should not have contested on the party symbol. Our juniors, political novices decided all this. If he (Chodankar) has resigned, it is good. He has done justice by resigning,” Sardinha said.
He had contested the last Lok Sabha elections from North Goa against Union Ayush minister Shripad Naik and had lost by more than one lakh votes. Since then, there has been a clamour to replace him. Chodankar had also come under fire after he failed to stop the exit of 10 Congress MLAs who switched over to BJP in 2019.
Party insiders said hardly any efforts to rebuild the party organisation were visible within the last one year or so. Consequently, some senior party functionaries had lately stepped up efforts to replace Chodankar, over a year before Goa elects a new legislative assembly. Sardinha has already thrown his hat into the ring.
“If I am given the post of president, I will take it,” Sardinha said.
On the day of the ZP elections on Saturday, Chodankar had exuded confidence of Congress winning both ZP bodies, only to find the party blown to smithereens when the ballot papers were counted on Monday.
Conceding defeat, he had vowed to rebuild the party, but preferred to quit as the clamour for his resignation increased.

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Broke Swiggy guy walks 3 km to deliver food, Social media helps him find better job. Heartwarming story is viral

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Social media can be a wondrous place at times. While on most days, its ugly face is on display, on days like today, it sets examples of the power of kindness. In a social media post, a LinkedIn user shared how a delivery executive, in need of money and a better job, bagged one after the users on the platform came together to help the person out.

Priyanshi Chandel, Marketing Manager at tech company Flash, shared an incident about a Swiggy delivery agent who had come to deliver food at her residence. When she asked the late and out-of-breath delivery person, identified by her as Sahil Singh, about what happened, he told her that he had no transport and had to walk 3 km to deliver the order.

He also said that he was out of money and had nothing left to pay his landlord too. Singh told her that he was not looking for money from her but requested her to help him bag a job. He said that he had a degree in Electrical and Communication Engineering, and had worked with Byju’s and Ninjacart before. He had to move back to Jammu during the pandemic.

“I have not eaten for a week, just drinking water and tea to get by. I am not asking for anything, please if you can find me a job, I used to make 25k before, I am 30 years old, my parents are getting old and I can’t keep asking for money from them (sic),” Chandel quoted saying.

She also shared his marksheets and contact number for people to help. His details shared show that he is a 2018 BTech graduate from Mewar University, and completed his schooling from the Jammu and Kashmir state board.

After she shared the details, the comments section was filled with people who stepped up to help. While someone recharged his Yulu account so that he did not have to walk around to deliver food, someone offered a place to stay. Many offered to help him with his applications, while some offered jobs too.

Chandel, later on put an update on the post, and said that he received a job.

However, so far it is unclear what job he has received.

2023 has so far been a year of job losses, an eventual outcome of the pandemic and increased hiring by tech companies. For instance, the SSC MTS 2023 recruitment exam that took place in Uttar Pradesh in May saw over 55 lakh applications for Group D jobs. Numerous candidates who applied for positions such as peon, watchman, gardener had educational backgrounds like BTech, MBA, and Master’s degrees.

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Goa CM, NRI Commissioner writes to MoEF for help in safe return of Goans from Ukraine

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Panaji: Goa chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant on Thursday urged Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar to help in safe return of Goans who are in the Ukraine.

Sawant tweeted “we are concerned about the Goans in Ukraine who are considering to return to India in the light of ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. I request Union Minister for External Affairs @DrSJaishankar ji for help in the safe return of Goans. I am keeping track of the situation.”

The chief minister’s tweet comes hours after Goa’s NRI Commissioner Narendra Sawaikar wrote to the Union External Affairs ministry seeking help in return of Goans who are in the Ukraine.

“Many Goans are currently residing in Ukraine due to various purposes including higher studies and due to the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine, I have started receiving requests for help and assistance from them to return back to India,” Sawaikar wrote.

The Commissioner further wrote in the letter that advisories have already been issued by the Ministery of External Affairs to Indians currently in Ukraine and our Indian Mission in Kyiy is currently handling the matter.

“Striking note of urgency, the Government of India has recently asked the family members of Embassy officials in Ukraine as well as students and citizens whose stay is not vital , to leave the Eastern European nation amid it’s raising tensions with Russia,” the letter reads.

Sawaikar wrote that the Goans in Ukraine are in touch with this office as they are anxious to temporarily return till the situation normalizes.

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Election Commission announces polling dates and counting days for Vidhan Sabha elections in 5 states

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On Saturday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the Vidhan Sabha elections in 5 States, namely, Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

While briefing the media, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra informed that the elections in the poll-bound States will commence from February 10, 2022, to March 7, 2022. Elections in the State of Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in 7 phases, followed by Manipur with 2 phases. Elections in Goa, Uttarkhand and Punjab will be conducted in a single phase.

According to the Election Commission of India, the votes will be counted on March 10, 2022. ECI informed that all physical campaigning will be ceased until January 15, 2022, in light of the rising cases of Coronavirus.

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