KOLKATA: The East and West finally met on the banks of the Ganges on an overcast midweek morning in Kolkata. Dressed in a white shirt with a black Nehru Jacket which was further embellished with the bright printed Trinamool Shawl, draped around his seasoned shoulders, Goa’s former Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro was welcomed by West Bengal’s Chief Minister and TMC supremo in the Trinamool Congress one family for a greater common good.
While Faleiro spoke of similarities, culture and habits, with fish and football, invariably getting a mention, the formation of the Trinamool Congress in Goa is nothing short of a political tsunami. However, he said that Goa’s identity, culture and ethos will be protected at all costs.
After a simple, low-key but solemn introduction to the Goa group in the presence of Mamata Banerjee, Faleiro and eight others from Goa, a mix of politicians, professionals and other civil society members, then went to address a crowded press conference, as TMC members along with a galaxy of senior TMC leaders on the dais. Banerjee did not attend the public event, on the eve of her own byelection in Bhawanipur on September 30.
On Mamata, Faleiro said, “Didi has been a streetfighter. A fighter par excellence. They tried everything. I know they have attacked ‘didiji’. They used all agencies but they couldn’t break her indomitable spirit and unparallel courage.” He added that he has appealed to Didi to come to Goa and protect its culture and identity. Goa has similar culture and style like Kolkata. He added Goans love fish the same as Kolkata, Goa is known for its heritage, football and culture, so is Kolkata. But today the BJP has destroyed it completely, it’s time for TMC to give and bring a New Dawn in Goa, he said.
Faleiro in a passionate address said, “Today when I’m joining Trinamool Congress, my dream is to bring this Congress family together. Whenever there is unity there is strength, and whenever there is strength there is success.” He added that he joined TMC with a dream to reunite the fragmented Congress parties as one and to defeat the BJP in Goa and the country. “I have requested the leader who you lovingly call ‘Didi’ to protect the state, the habitat… The Congress family… In the Congress family, Didi has proved she can fight against the BJP. I hope she can fight under the united Congress banner.”
Asked why he did not take up the leadership of the CLP he said, “I observed dignified silence for four and a half years that the mandate was betrayed last time. That is the real sorrow and the people of Goa have suffered.”
Trinamool Congress National general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and state minister Subrata Mukherjee were among the senior leaders present at the press conference where the local TMC leaders welcomed and greeted Team Goa again.
Along with Luizinho, the others who joined the Goa Trinamool Congress were: Lavoo Mamledar – Former MLA, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, was also Dy SP, Goa Police Services; Yatish Naik – former General Secretary, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee; Vijay Vasudev Poi – former General Secretary, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee; Mario Pinto De Santana – former Secretary, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee from the Cumbarjua constituency, has been a sarpanch for 25 years; Anand Naik – former Secretary, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee from Mayem; Shivdas Sonu Naik (N Shivdas) – author, poet & playwright and a Sahitya Academy Award Winner; Antonio Monteiro Clovis Da Costa – President, South Goa Advocates Association, well known for uncovering the oxygen mismanagement in Goa amid Covid pandemic; Rajendra Shivaji Kakodkar – Prominent voice on economy & environmental issues in Goa.
On the issue of there hardly being time to get ready for the elections he said, “I understand your question but the people of Goa are angry and fed up of the situation and we will fight together in this time to make a difference and surely win.”
