In the run up to the April 12 Lok Sabha polls, Herald speaks to presidents of political parties. We begin our interview with Congress party president John Fernandes
What is Congress party’s poll strategy for Goa?
We have a strategy already in place and an election war room is also already functioning. This will not be visible to anybody but only top party leaders are aware of it because opponents have launched a cyber war, maligning the leadership and spreading disinformation. At times, this campaigning is done anonymously by violating the Information Technology Act in force, but Congress has to respond even to this gray area so that everything falls in place.
Will the Rahul factor work for Congress in the State?
Certainly, yes, because he represents the youth and we have a sizeable youth population… he has got the imagination of the young generation whereas Modi has not made his mind clear on his philosophy for the country and on foreign policy. He is only speaking about corporates, and big industrial houses.
Will AAP make any impact at these elections? Or will it be a straight fight between Congress and BJP?
I have taken up bigger issues than Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal in Parliament. The so-called activists never supported me to fight corruption and have recently jumped into the fray claiming to clean up corruption. It is a fad. Corruption cannot be cleaned by a broom but by filing cases against corrupt persons. Ask them how many cases they have and pursued and exposed people. In Goa, they are talking about lowering fish prices. Are there no other issues? I have personally helped people in finance department, land and survey to get their work done without paying a bribe. These laymen are fleeced by officials but where is the human service by AAP? However, if they are here to clean corruption, I welcome them and have no complaints.
Why did the party fail to field any woman candidate?
We have only two seats. We do involve a lot of women in party campaigns and women empowerment. There is a Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee in place. But as we have just two seats, it becomes difficult to field them at this stage. At the moment, no women candidates are prepared to contest Lok Sabha elections and neither had we received any application from any of them. However, under my leadership, I will ensure that at least one woman candidate is ready for contesting future elections because more than 50 percent of the population in Goa is of women and we respect their wishes. It will be my endeavour to see women are promoted in this sector because it was the Congress that gave reservation to women at grassroots level.
What will be the deciding factor of the polls?
The party is strong enough and so also the two candidates vis a vis their rivals. It has a strong commitment to secularism. North Goa candidate is a former Member of Parliament and ex-chief minister of Goa, and has also served as a MLA for quite a long time. While South Goa candidate Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco is vocal on every issue which we have seen in the assembly and at press conferences. We therefore have strong faces representing the party.
There was initially delay in finalizing the candidates and also the alliance? Will this affect the candidates?
There was a little delay, but nevertheless the work and the campaigning had begun even before the Parliamentary board released the third list in Delhi. It is not an easy task as there are over 1,000 candidates to be scrutinised for 543 Lok Sabha, in a short span of time. But we started regular meetings to decide campaign strategies much before the candidates were finalised.
Party has to appease all its rebels before going for polls. Is it not going to affect your poll performance?
Rebels are present in every party, more so in the Congress because it is a liberal party. We have already appealed to them and even phoned them in the presence of AICC General Secretary Digvijaya Singh. Everybody knows them, they are loud and clear in the media… I have called it election fever and attempts to blackmail the party. In 1999, after retirement from the Rajya Sabha, I had requested Sonia Gandhi to accommodate Eduardo Faleiro and I be given the Lok Sabha ticket. During that time also the same family (Alemaos) played the same tricks and the ticket went to Joaquim Alemao who lost the elections… This has been the tradition of blackmailing and snatching tickets. These attempts have shown results through people’s votes because of which the party as a whole had to suffer.
The Congress has witnessed a sea change in the past few weeks ahead of Lok Sabha election with old players quitting the party. Comments.
We expect more and more people to quit and I wish more such self-seeking people leave. I don’t mind Congress loosing the elections but we have to clean up the party, which I have always been saying. This will be the beginning…
