The All India Congress Committee (AICC) leadership’s move Friday night to appoint Girish Chodankar as the new Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president, replacing Amit Patkar, has resulted in rumblings in the state party unit just months ahead of the state Assembly elections slated for February 2027.

The AICC also appointed three new state working presidents – including M K Shaikh, Altone D’Costa and Carlos Alvares Ferreira – while naming Datta D Naik as the party treasurer.

Patkar’s replacement is being seen in Congress circles as a move reflective of the leadership’s “confidence” in Chodankar, who as the AICC in charge of Tamil Nadu was instrumental in the party stitching up a post-poll alliance there with the Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) following the latter’s stunning victory on its debut election. The Congress’s decision to leave its old ally DMK to join hands with Vijay led to the former getting a chance to join the state ministry after about six decades.

However, several Goa Congress leaders were surprised by the AICC’s bid to bring Chodankar back as the GPCC chief now, over three years after he had resigned from the same post in March 2022 after the party’s debacle in the state elections.The Congress had then won 11 seats in the 40-member Goa Assembly as against the incumbent BJP’s 20.

Amit Patkar is said to have made his “resentment” clear to the Congress leadership, skipping the event at the GPCC office in Panjim Saturday, where Chodankar took charge as the new party chief. According to party sources, AICC in charge for Goa Manikrao Thakre invited Patkar for the event, but he said he would not be able to attend it. Since Friday night, Patkar has been holding meetings with his supporters to chalk out his future course of action, sources said.

Those close to Patkar, who was appointed Chodankar’s successor soon after his resignation in 2022, told The Indian Express that they will “convince” him to form a new party. “We would rather form a new party instead of being humiliated like this. How can the Goa unit chief be changed like this without any consultations with the state party leaders,” said a leader close to Patkar. “We were preparing for the 2027 elections and we were confident of a win in Goa because of all the work we have done in the last four years. If the replacement was someone new, we would have understood. But the Congress high command has sent someone who failed in Goa in 2022. And also failed in Tamil Nadu as in charge,” he said.

While the Congress managed to come to power in Tamil Nadu riding Vijay’s coattails, the party managed to win just five seats in the elections – coming down from its 18-seat tally secured in the 2021 polls.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Saturday, Patkar said: “I respect the decision of the high command (to appoint Chodankar). I will meet Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Kharge ji and other senior leaders and give them feedback on the situation in the state. After the meeting, I will be able to tell more.”

While Patkar’s ouster is likely to see some exits from the state party unit in the coming days, the Chodankar camp argued that his appointment is due to his “organisational skills” and his “commitment” to the party.

Some leaders close to Chodankar argued that Patkar was not popular among the state Congress unit’s rank and file. “No one was happy with his (Patkar’s) style of functioning. He even failed to stitch an alliance between like-minded parties in the zila panchayat polls in December 2025. These things were taken note of by the party high command and hence, we saw a change in the GPCC leadership now,” said a senior state party leader.