PANJIM: Exactly 20 days after he had joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a move that was celebrated by even Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, former Curtorim Zilla Panchayat (ZP) member Moreno Rebello resigned from the ring on Thursday.
Rebello, who had submitted his resignation from the primary membership of the party on Thursday morning, addressed media persons on Thursday evening where he expressed his regret over his then decision to join the BJP.
His unease end is coming fore with his decision to leave his Congrass comfort zone was palpable. But then twenty days is a long time in politics. The political landscape of Curtorim has become topsy- turvy. Where Rebello left the Congress, his rival Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco was the Congress’ gatekeeper.
Now Reginaldo has moved to Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Congress doesn’t have a favourite though there are aspirants. Moreno is seen as a natural aspirant and frontrunner but with other claimants it remains to be seen if his departure from BJP would be followed by a homecoming.
“I had joined BJP on December 10 because I wanted to contest the elections. But the recent developments—what has happened across the country—especially atrocities against the minorities in other States have created a lot of problems for me in my life. My people had put a lot of pressure on me to leave the party,” said Rebello.
“I was feeling suffocated here. From the time I joined BJP I was getting questions about it and comments directed at me such as me being called ‘paatki’ and that I had sold my soul to the BJP,” added Rebello.
He also made it a point to emphasise that when he had resigned from Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), Congress had not yet announced that former Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco was their candidate for the forthcoming assembly elections.
Reportedly, Moreno had resigned from Congress a day before All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader Priyanka Gandhi had visited Goa. Moreno however admitted that when he left Congress, he was sure that Reginaldo would be getting the ticket.
When asked if he is considering returning to Congress or contesting the elections himself to take on Reginaldo, who has joined Trinamool Congress (TMC), Rebello said he cannot speak about his future plans as yet but that as of now, he is only feeling relieved that he has left BJP.
He clarified that he was asked to join BJP immediately and because of that he did not have much time to consult with his supporters before making the earlier switch to BJP. He was referring to the resentment people in Curtorim immediately after he had joined BJP.
“I ask for repentance from God and I ask for forgiveness from those (from Curtorim) who were offended by my decision to join BJP. ,” he added.
When asked if Congress leaders had spoken to him about joining Congress, he did not speak about it but said there have been talks from Congress about his wife Michelle being asked to contest.
When asked if the possibility of his wife contesting on the Congress ticket had anything to do with him leaving BJP, he said the two are not connected and that this is an individual decision of his wife. He added that as of now he is neutral as far as political affiliations are concerned.
He also said that many parties had approached him and that leaders had even visited his house when he was with the Congress. He added that he felt the elections would only be between BJP and Congress and that is why he had then chosen BJP as he considered all the other parties to be fringe players. He was speaking on this when asked if he would join other parties besides Congress.
