Was approached by Prashant Kishor: Luizinho Faleiro on joining TMC

"Of course, he had approached me. Just a few days back," he told NDTV channel.

"He didn't tell me to join the TMC but he did an analysis. People in Goa are angry with BJP. Mining has stopped. The economy is in a meltdown. There are no jobs. Goa is looking for an alternative. Didi is the only force. Despite the pressure, they abused her, used government agencies. The country needs a leader like Didi," he said.

Speaking at a press conference earlier in the day, Faleiro said, "Believe it or not I never met them (Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee). They are great leaders. They are not great leaders of Trinamool but great national leaders. But I did not meet them. I met I-PAC, I met Mr Prashant Kishor of I-PAC (Indian Political Action Committee). I met him. Just before I made the decision, we had an interaction."

"It was a very, very difficult decision for me to leave the Congress party. But finally, in the interest of Goa and in the interest of the country, to defeat the BJP, this is the only way for me to go forward and even now I am looking forward to help from I-PAC members. They are not from Bengal but different parts of the country," he said.

Beginning his new stint in the TMC, which is in an expansion mode, Faleiro earlier gave a call for an unification of all Congress offshoots to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is ruling the Centre and a majority of the states.

Praising Mamata Banerjee, the Goan leader had said, "We need a street fighter like Didi to defeat the BJP."

"The moment has come where all Congresses need to come together to face the BJP government," he said.

The joining comes days after Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said his party will plunge into Goa politics, throwing a challenge to his arch-rival BJP, which rules the state.

The TMC has already activated its organisation in Tripura and Assam, which are also governed by the BJP.

Abhishek Banerjee announced his plans to expand his party after the TMC decimated the BJP in bitterly-fought 2021 West Bengal Assembly Elections, where the saffron party threw everything to assume power for the first time.