Panaji, Aug 26 (IANS): Bickering within the Congress party in Goa should be controlled as much as possible, Congress leader and former state AAP convenor Elvis Gomes said on Thursday.

The remark by Gomes was made after his meeting with former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who is on a two-day visit to the coastal state as the party's senior observer for the 2022 state assembly polls.

Gomes, who joined the Congress earlier this month, said that the ruling BJP will face a strong anti-incumbency sentiment, adding that only the Congress party is in a position to take advantage of the situation.

"The Congress should send a positive signal to the people. I feel that this exercise of Chidambaram will bring people together. But the question is how much you can bring it under control and go to the people," Gomes said, when asked about the increasing bickering among party leaders ahead of the polls.

"Everyone knows the Congress and there is tremendous anti-incumbency against the BJP. The common man is also frustrated with the BJP. That has to be captured by the Congress. Only Congress has a chance," he added.

Gomes, who was the AAP's chief ministerial candidate for the 2017 state assembly polls -- in which the party failed to win a single seat -- also said that the party should declare its candidates early in the day, so that they can familiarise themselves with the people of the constituency and vice versa.

"People feel that candidates should be declared beforehand, because then they get time to work and there is an acceptance level from the people. Doubts can be clarified," he asserted.