TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: This Congress candidate finds himself in the Lok Sabha electoral ring by chance, literally. Till a month ago, he was content in representing the people of Curtorim constituency, before circumstances pushed him into the April 12 electoral battle.
This 45-year-old, a two-time MLA, had earned a name for himself through his strident tirade on the Parrikar regime when many a heavyweight and lightweight Congress leader virtually took political sanyas. There’s no agitation which a vocal Reginaldo has not lent his support during the last two years, endearing himself to Goans at large.
He has been in the forefront of the agitation against the Mormugao Steel Factory, catapulting him in Curtorim politics. And his close association with local sporting clubs and NGOs for special children kept him in good stead in his social life.
Reginaldo tryst with electoral politics began at the grassroots level when he took a plunge into Zilla Panchayat polls, only to emerge triumphant from Curtorim. He got re-elected to the South Goa Zilla Panchayat from Curtorim and later rose to become its chairman. Reginaldo cut short his seven-year-old innings at the Zilla Panchayat when he decided to take a shot at the Assembly elections. And he emerged a giant killer, defeating his confidante and mentor, Francisco Sardinha in the 2007 poll and got re-elected to the Assembly in 2012.
Its lush green fields and agricultural activity had earned Curtorim the nickname as granary of Salcete. And Reginaldo contributed his lot to organise agriculture, by introducing mechanisation, not just in Curtorim, but in villages spread across the constituency.
At 45, Reginaldo represents Congress’ young face promising to retain Dabolim as Goa’s lone international airport and work for special status.
