TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: A couple of them did not owe any allegiance with the Congress, but these breed of young leaders had come in handy for the Congress leadership to keep the party flag flying high in the April 12 Lok Sabha for the south Goa Lok Sabha seat when the heavyweights either played hide and seek or left the party for greener pastures to rock the party fort.
In at least half a dozen assembly segments, the Congress had no choice — bereft of leaders and organisation worth it’s name — but to fall back on these young politicos, with leaders like Churchill Alemao quitting the Congress to embrace and contest on the Trinamool Congress ticket, while sitting MPs Francisco Sardinha, Mauvin Godinho, Alexio Sequeira and Joaquim Alemao were conspicuous by their absence during the campaign.
Zilla Panchayat member, Wilfred D’Sa in Nuvem, Advocate John Monteiro in Cuncolim, Prasad Gaonkar in Sanguem and Anacleto D’Souza in Dabolim led the campaign on behalf of the Congress minus the heavyweights.
Take the case of Nuvem. A close aide of Nuvem legislator Mickky Pacheco, D’Sa had been a long time opponent of the Congress, but rallied behind his close friend Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco in the election. In fact, though local Congress heavyweight Sequeira had addressed a meeting at Nuvem, it was D’Sa who had virtually played a leading role in the election campaign, even raising eyebrows amongst many a local Congressmen whether the Nuvem Zilla panchayat member’s candidature has found favour with the Congress leadership.
In Cuncolim, the party leadership inducted Monteiro into the party midway through the campaign, with Joaquim Alemao staying away from the campaign on medical grounds. Monteiro’s induction into the Congress fold to lead the party campaign in Cuncolim assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of reports of alleged anti-party activity by Joaquim, which had even resulted in the dissolution of the Congress Block led by Assiz Noronha.
In far away Sanguem, the Congress had no organisation worth its name in a constituency, which was allotted to its alliance partner in the 2012 assembly poll. Sources said when the Congress found the going extremely tough in Sanguem, which even prompted Sanguem BJP legislator Subhash Faldesai to challenge the Congress to hold a meeting in Sanguem with 50 people, the party leadership roped in ST youth leader, Prasad Gaonkar, who had made his mark in local politics in the 2012 assembly poll by contesting as an independent candidate.
In Dabolim, the Congress had to literally fight the poll with its back to the wall, following a rebellion by Mauvin Godinho’s supporters. Sources said the party banked on the leadership of Chicalim’s Anacleto D’souza’s and other local leaders to take the poll battle in the enemy camp.
Sources in the know said the Congress leadership relied on Akbar Mulla in Shiroda, while managing local leaders in the Benaulim and Navelim segments to offer a semblance of fight to the opposition in the absence the heavyweights.
Commenting on the emerging development, a senior Congress leader maintained that the party leadership will certainly take cognisance of these new leaders who came to the party’s rescue in times of need. “Certainly, these new leaders will be certainly in reckoning for a bigger role in the party in their respective constituencies if their helping hand has helped the party in the husting”.
