NAVELIM: The direct and vicious attack on GPCC president and Congress Navelim candidate Luizinho Faleiro has left no doubt on Goa Forward’s intentions of splitting the anti-BJP vote in Navelim in order to bring Faleiro down.

GF is no longer covertly backing Edwin alias Cipru Souza, which it always was. On Sunday, Goa Forward Party President Prabhakar Timble shared the stage with independent Cipru and said, “Cipru was very much involved in the formation of Goa Forward Party and would have been the party candidate in Navelim except that they did not want to antagonise Luizinho. However, we are now rechristening Cipru and he will be our man,” he said.

Cipru will quite clearly play the role of most Independents in these elections, of heavily dividing anti-BJP votes. Goa Forward Party is openly encouraging this in Navelim due to a clear and deep animosity with Faleiro.

Timble took great pains to paint Faleiro black and squarely blamed him for the failure of talks of alliance between his and Congress. 

“We went begging for old clothes by asking constituencies where the Congress had no MLA,” he said. 

But did GF expect Congress not to build its organisation in those constituencies and try and win those seats.

Timble said there was no way Cipru would be disqualified if elected, while urging the crowd to vote for Cipru.

However, Timble, in passing mentioned that his party’s main purpose was not to allow BJP to return to power and that is the reason why they wanted an alliance with the Congress. But his party’s action in Navelim points to exactly the opposite.

However, he did mention that GF will swallow all insults and support the Congress to form the next government in Goa.