Luizinho Faleiro became the first Congress president, to perform a critical surgical operation, that was long overdue in order to make the Congress survive, by expelling Babush Monseratte. In doing so, the Congress overcame, its biggest mind block against expelling those who have been working against the party even at the cost of reducing its strength in the assembly, as Monseratte will now become an unattached member.
The challenge now lies in how it proceeds against Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho who has functioned as a de facto BJP MLA by sitting on the opposition benches. His supporters deserted the Block unit and formed another which openly worked against the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. Close to a year ago, he had told Herald that his future does not lie with the Congress and he is inclined towards the BJP. He has stayed away from all Congress meetings but was invited to a select gathering during Mr Narendra Modi’s first visit to Goa after becoming PM. The GPCC has taken no action against this non MLA.
With the action against Monseratte having been taken, the cleansing action should commence without bothering about how many MLAs it will lose. Quite honestly, the Congress has nothing left to lose.
Mr Luizinho Faleiro should use this opening to move on for his own sake and that of the party. At this point of time, he should not even attempt trying to win the people’s confidence because he will fail miserably. He needs at least a year if not more to bring life to a lifeless organisation. He needs to start from booths where committees do not exist, then Blocks and the two districts. He has made some major changes to the state executive by bringing in some fresh blood and reappointing them as General Secretaries and Secretaries. While this is a good start, the role of the newly appointed lot will be to establish a mechanism of bottom up revitalisation.
A membership drive has to be completed within a time frame. At the same time frontal organisations too need to be built from scratch. And in doing all this, a very delicate balance has to be maintained between the old and the new. The power structure with the GPCC has really changed and Mr Faleiro’s closest aides are the present think tank. But the refreshing change here is the willingness to work with new people, a fresh crop, by bringing back some young blood who were a part of the past president John Fernandes’ camp like Durgadas Kamat.
However in all this lies a big caveat. The people of Goa have no hope in the Congress. If they want to be relevant at all in 2017, the party building has to be over by mid 2016 post which the party can go to the people. However if the party has to regain its past position in the state, it can even push back hopes of coming to power for the next term and focus fully on the next.
The irony is that the more Congress stays away from the path of power, the more likely it is that it can have a serious shot at it. Monseratte’s expulsion is a bold new step and must be welcomed.
