The old hand is back, with new beginnings. ‘Out with the old, in with the new’ seems to be the strategy followed by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) in Nuvem constituency.
GPCC president Luizinho Faleiro along with Opposition Leader Pratapsing Rane welcomed Nuvem ZP member Wilfred D’Sa and Nuvem ticket aspirant into the Congress fold for the inauguration of their Nuvem block office this week. Luizinho praised the chief guest for the function who is known locally as ‘Babazinho’ while Rane encouraged the Nuvem block office to help script the Congress’s planned return to power with this new move.
But the red carpet for D’Sa that Luizinho had laid out is actually a minefield.
Missing in action as D’Sa’s entry function was Congress’ Nuvem candidate for 2012, a permanent resident in these parts, Aleixo Sequeira. ‘Babazinho’, has obviously been promised a long political future in the Congress, which in party parlance means only this – a ticket in the Assembly elections.
The move has obviously irked some local political leaders Nuvem block members who have been active for two years now feel undermined given that it appears that D’Sa has been abruptly given charge of the Congress affairs in Nuvem and is likely to the get the ticket.
Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco expressed his displeasure of not being kept in the loop by the party president or the party and pointed out that it was D’Sa who recently informed him about the decision.
Lourenco said that he had spoken to D’Sa about joining the party and recalled that D’Sa had supported him during the Lok Sabha elections and noted that D’Sa found favour with the Congress during this period.
When asked to comment about what the new entrance means for the Congress, Lourenco lamented that the party members were not being taken into confidence with regard to the new developments and that did not go well with them. “D’Sa supported me during the Lok Sabha elections and I have acknowledged that but I think the party is losing the larger picture. I say this because of the personal agenda of the so called tall leaders of the party who have suddenly appeared to be loyal” said Lourenco.
He added that he had been a sincere and loyal solider of the party and the lone voice in the Opposition while he had been criticised by these tall leaders and other MLAs who he alleged were acting in connivance with the BJP.
On the other side, former Loutolim MLA Aleixo Sequeira who would not get the Nuvem ticket if it is given to D’Sa is certainly not amused with the latest happenings. When asked by his supporters, however Sequeira has said that he has not yet decided about his future in view of the upcoming elections. When pressed about his opinion about D’Sa, he is believed to have told his supporters that Luizinho is a seasoned politician and knows best.
Luizinho and Sequeira have not seen eye-to-eye recently and this was apparent when they met recently and against the backdrop of Sequeira having been lined up to take up the post of Congress state president.
However, it appears that Luizinho seems to be backing the winning horse and has an ace up his sleeve considering D’Sa’s role in helping Pacheco defeat Sequeira in the 2012 elections and his recent victory against Pacheco’s backed ZP candidate.
While D’sa has openly expressed his intentions to contest the assembly elections from Nuvem, when asked about the Congress ticket he pointed out that this was to be left to the decision of the Congress leaders and his supporters.
He reiterated that he was interested and that he would be willing to take it up if he was offered the post. He explained that earlier he was an independent political and had not supported the Congress in the part. He expressed disappointment that after helping ‘a regional party’ win the Nuvem Assembly elections, the party decided to support the BJP government against the wishes of the people.
He said this was why he had moved away from the regional party and spoke highly of Congress’s inclusive nature and that after speaking to his supporters he had supported the Congress candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He added that he had spoken to his ZP supporters about his decision to join the Congress and would add members to the party from Nuvem.
While this is one of Luizinho’s grand moments, the battle for Nuvem will be more of an internal Congress fight rather than one against its on-the-run MLA Mickky Pacheco.
