Team Herald
PANJIM: The opposition Congress party on Monday questioned the timing of former MLA Luizinho Faleiro quitting the party and said that the TMC model did not look like the Mamata model but looked like the ‘Modi-Amit Shah model’.
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All India Congress Committee (AICC) Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Rao said Faleiro’s resignation was a blessing in disguise as he had lost his connect with the people.
“We had received a lot of negative news from his (Navelim) constituency,” Rao said, adding, “Sometimes when you retire, you take VRS. This could have been a VRS for him. I don’t know,” he said.
Rao expressed displeasure over the sudden entry of TMC in Goan politics and their attempts at poaching and hijacking leaders from other political parties.
“Suddenly coming here and poaching and hijacking leaders from other political parties is not a good thing for the culture of Goa and healthy democracy. What TMC is doing is not in the political or developmental interest of Goa,” he said, adding, “Party should be built from grassroots level.”
The AICC in-charge said that the Congress has many candidate options in each constituency. ‘Congress is a strong party in Goa. Those who leave do so for their personal agendas to gain personal benefits,” he added.
Rao said that Goa Congress leaders had met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and discussed poll preparedness while block, district committees will be shortly announced and GPCC will be reconstituted.
Rao said that there was no clarity what Faleiro was saying. “Sometimes when speaking the truth it does not require too much of thought. Within five minutes you can tell people what you are thinking. But when you are being deceptive you create a story or fiction. There was no truth coming out from his (Faleiro’s) heart. He was deceptive,” Rao said.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar said Faleiro, who earned his name and fame from
Congress, had ditched Goans when the elections were approaching. Faleiro quit the Congress when he was required the most to fight the BJP in the State. People of Goa will never forgive him for this act, he said.
Chodankar added, “He (Faleiro) has negotiated his retirement plan but he should have done it either two years before or after the Assembly elections. At least not after enjoying all top posts in the Congress.”
The GPCC president said that nobody can stop Congress from coming to power after the 2022 Assembly elections.
Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat said that he will continue to raise people’s voice in the Assembly. People of Goa have appreciated that opposition parties work both in the Assembly and outside. “My role will be to raise people’s issues forcefully and force the government to solve people’s issues.”
Goa Pradesh Youth Congress president Varad Mardolkar alleged that Faleiro never participated in any of the agitations organised by them. “Faleiro never helped us and on the contrary pulled us for organising protests in Navelim constituency,” he said.
