TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: It’s nearly a year since Central Congress leaders and emissaries have been flying down to visit Goa dishing out empty promises of resolving the leadership crises that haunts the Pradesh Congress, even as the Parliamentary polls are round the corner.
It was first the then AICC General Secretary and now Vice President Rahul Gandhi who came to Goa in December 2012 assuring to appoint a leader to help resuscitate a wounded party after it suffered a major defeat at the hands of the BJP in the March ’12 Assembly polls.
‘New faces, young blood’ was the mantra that Gandhi got the party chanting since December 20, 2012. He raised party expectation, but 10 months later the morale of legislators and party workers is down.
This appears like another good opportunity to the BJP on a platter to white wash a Party that was once unshakeable in Goa.
Congress spokesman Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco said, “We had high hopes after Digvijaya Singh was appointed as the desk in-charge of Goa. But we fail to understand why there is such an unprecedented delay in appointing a GPCC chief.”
Reginaldo who was seen as a frontrunner for the post, himself seems disgusted over the long-awaited change. He alleged that moves for a leadership change are being scuttled by certain leaders.
“It appears there are some vested interests who are creating a stalemate,” he said adding that the party high command should appoint somebody, whoever it is, to lead the party in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls as the time was right to cash in on the mistakes of the Parrikar-led government during the poll campaign.
Even Mauvin Godinho, Congress’ Dabolim MLA believes that instead of working towards building up the party and capitalising on the present political scenario in the State, “The party is going down.”
Another senior GPCC member appeared irate that rather than appointing the Goa Youth Congress leader, Valanka Alemao, no other key appointments have been made during the last one year and that the Congress continues to be headed by a leader who failed to show results in the Assembly polls of 2012.
Presently the AICC Secretary Dr Chella Kumar is visiting Goa today and this time choosing candidates for the Lok Sabha polls is at the top of his agenda.
The AICC Secretary, Chella Kumar when contacted by Herald Saturday and quizzed over the prolonged delay in appointment of the GPCC President after Subhash Shirodkar’s resignation from the post, which is pending for over a year, said, “His resignation is not accepted yet…Why is the media behind this? Let him continue…We have our party’s ideology and principles in place.”
To another question about Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Goa last year and promises of a party revamp which has still not occurred, he said, “There is nothing wrong in our party. We are all united.”
Asked about the purpose of his visit to Goa again, he said, “It is basically to evaluate the performances of each of the MLAs outside and in the Assembly, meeting with the block presidents and planning strategies for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.”
As far as selection of candidates in Goa for the Lok Sabha elections, he said, “The process is on. When time comes we will announce it and we will win the elections.”
