PANJIM: Sections of the Congress are back to its old ways. And it is the old protagonists who are in the middle of a serious behind the scenes efforts to do backroom deals and get defeated old faces back into the party, much against the plans of the Pradesh Congress.
According to very reliable sources within the party, the AICC General Secretary in charge of Goa Digvijay Singh, has not really been an innocent bystander and has actually tacitly encouraged defeated
and “family raj members” of the Congress, which brought down the party in 2012, to have fresh negotiations even as the GPCC, is carrying out an exercise of short-listing candidates from the block to the District to the state.
It is reliably learnt that former minister and defeated Cuncolim MLA Joaquim Alemao has been in touch with the AICC general secretary and has been trying to do a backdoor heist to wrest the Cuncolim ticket, even thought the Cuncolim block hasn’t included him in the shortlist of three candidates.
Close supporters of Joaquim Alemao said that he had met the party high command in Delhi and had conveyed to Digvijay Singh his plans to contest as an indepedent if denied the ticket. Supporters added that the visit had changed the status quo to the extent that Joaquim will now have to wait and see what the Congress decides. Alemao himself was tight-lipped about his Delhi visit.
Another veteran, and former minister from Salcete who lost in 2012, who doesn’t find himself in the scheme of things though he is in the list of probable candidates sent by the block, is also apparently negotiating “directly with Delhi” to stymies the candidate selection process of the GPCC. Herald will go public with this once it receives a watertight confirmation.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, who has made no secret of his plans of going for the top job, is fishing in troubled waters. His strategy is simple. Keep satraps who were either with the Congress or are threatening to form their own splinter groups, like Vishwajit Rane and Babush Monseratte in good humour for post- elections negotiations. Junior Rane, Vishwajit may or may not be with the Congress officially, but what he will do is chart his own course, and field his own candidates. While the Goa Congress has reacted sharply to these moves, leaders like Vishwajit are getting solace from the centre (read Digvijay Singh). Digambar Kamat finds himself more aligned to this kind of a dispensation, as against Luizinho Faleiro, who has been openly wary of rushing into an alliance.
Thus on the issue of doing political business (because that’s what it will ultimately be) with Vishwajit Rane and Babush Monseratte, (who has announced that he is floating a new party for which papers have already been filed with the Election Commission) the GPCC President Luizinho Faleiro and the AICC General Secretary in charge of Goa Digvijay Singh, are clearly on opposite sides. And in Goa, Digambar Kamat is leaning towards the AICC, which is open to doing deals with former and present Congressmen, who have decided to float their own units, rather than the official GPCC leadership. This is a piquant and unfortunate situation, where the central organisation and the official state unit do not see eye to eye. This is clear.
Digambar Kamat has also further extended the olive branch he has offered to Babush Monserrate and Joaquim Alemao, to Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, even as the Fatorda block is firmly against any truck with Sardesai, along with some office-bearers of the GPCC who have shot off a letter to Rahul Gandhi against Digvijay Singh and Vijai Sardesai. Kamat has only one objective, backing of as many MLAs for the top job.
When asked to comment on reports that he was trying to bring in unattached MLA Babush Monserrate and former MLAs Churchill and Joaquim ALemao, he flatly denied this and added that he had no such authority and that it was for the party to decide.
Digvijay Singh did an U-turn on his own comment that the Congress will contest all the 40 seats and said that is was open to exploring a “mahagatbandhan”.
Barely a month ago, (July 24) Digvijay Singh told journalists in Goa “The Congress party has made it clear that as of now we are preparing to field candidates in all 40 seats. If there is a proposal, at any point of time, then the Pradesh executive committee will discuss and decide and propose to AICC if any alliance is to be considered or not,” Singh said.
Two days ago, again in Goa, Digvijay Singh said “ A mahagatbandhan or coming together of opposition forces took place in the recent session of the Assembly, something in similar lines can be thought of in the Assembly elections”.
Meanwhile speaking to Herald, Mr Luizino Faleiro said “There were two meetings of the Pradesh Election Committee and the Coordination Committee (Herald observes that Digvijay Singh was present at these meetings) where it was decided to empower the blocks. The names of shortlisted candidates form almost all blocks are with the District Committees, which in turn will be fine tuned and forwarded to the Pradesh Election Committee by September 30. It is only then that the PEC will inform the AICC whether any alliance with anyone is needed or not”.
Clearly, the Congress has been hit by the “dealmaker” virus, which has its origins in Delhi, with some strains visible among some “senior” Congressmen in Goa.
(Part 2 tomorrow)
