TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Congress leadership on Wednesday worked out a truce between warring Congress factions in Cuncolim with the party leadership working out a compromise formula to end the impasse over the Cuncolim Block Congress Committee.
At a meeting called by former Cuncolim MLA Joaquim Alemao at Hotel Raissa in Margao on Wednesday evening, which was attended by MP Francisco Sardinha and District Congress chief Subhash Faldessai, it was decided that Cuncolim Block Congress Committee president Assis Noronha would step down from office after the April 12 Lok Sabha polls. The former Cuncolim MLA then proposed the names of two candidates for the post, Derrick Braganza and Paresh Desai, to the party leadership.
Sources said that Joaquim Alemao is believed to have accused AICC general secretary Luizinho Faleiro and AICC secretary Girish Chodankar for trying to give entry to Adv John Monteiro into the Congress party. Joaquim’s supporters, sources said, questioned the rationale of the two Congress leaders for promoting Adv John Monteiro, whom they held responsible for the defeat of the Cuncolim Congress candidate in the 2012 election.
After the meeting, Joaquim said that as per the compromise formula, incumbent Cuncolim Block Congress President Assis Noronha will step down from office after the Lok Sabha polls. “I have recommended names of Derrick Braganza and Paresh Desai for the vacant post. Let the party leadership take a call on the matter”, he said.
Replying to a question, Joaquim said the meeting was called to end the row over the appointment of Assis as the block president. “We wanted to unitedly face the coming polls. Hence the meeting was called to resolve the differences over the block leadership”, he added. In his brief address, Francisco Sardinha told the workers to remain united ahead of the polls.
