Ticket uncertainty grounds Cong campaign
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The deadlock over the announcement of ticket for the south Goa seat has virtually grounded the Congress election campaign down south.
Four days after the Congress kicked off the party campaign to retain the south Goa seat with much fanfare from the historic Lohia Maidan, all appears quite now in the Congress party. The Sardinha camp has applied sudden brakes to its ongoing campaign with the delay in announcing the candidate has only invited host of questions from the party rank and file over the candidature.
In fact, the Sardinha camp strategy to go all out before the electorate after the Lohia Maidan rally has literally gone haywire in the absence of clear cut signals coming from the high command over the party candidate. Says a close Sardinha supporter: “Where ever we go , we are flooded with one simple question: Who’s the Congress candidate for south Goa. This question has literally punctured our campaign and our strategy. We have already lost three clear days now when the BJP candidate has covered Salcete and is now concentrating in the Sanguem hinterland”.
A senior south Goa district office bearer has echoed similar sentiments. “The deadlock over the ticket has come at a time when the Lohia Maidan rally had charged up the demoralised party workers. The rally had sent the right signals to the party rank and file with the party heavyweights sharing the platform for the good of the party. But, the deadlock has exposed the unity facade”, he said.
What’s significant to note is that no one is ready to spend the money on the campaign in the absence of the candidate. Sources in the know said that Sardinha had funded a good part of the Lohia Maidan rally anticipating that the party would re-nominate him given his status as the sitting MP. However, money spending either by Sardinha or by his rivals in the party has come to a stop with party men keeping their fingers crossed over the candidate.
A senior party leader felt the party leadership in Delhi should not waste time in declaring the candidate with less than a month to go for the April 12 Lok Sabha poll. “Unlike the 2009 Lok Sabha election, when the Congress was ruling the state, this time we have only four MLAs in the 20 assembly segments. In some of the constituencies ruled by the ruling alliance partners, the workers are still a demoralised lot. We cannot waste any more time in deciding the ticket”, remarked the leader.
