Team Herald
Margao: A picture of former Navelim MLAs Churchill Alemao and Luizinho Faleiro holding champagne glasses and raising a toast at a party in Navelim has gone viral and created quite a buzz, especially among Salcete residents.
The party was the first Holy Communion celebration of former Margao Municipal Council Chairperson Savio Coutinho and Congress general secretary Pratima Coutinho’s daughter.
There were two pictures: one of the two political heavyweights tilting their glasses after the toast and the second of the two in conversation at a corner of the party hall. Party-goers pointed out that both politicians spent a lot of time together chatting.
The meeting of the former rivals comes in the backdrop of Alemao vying for a Congress ticket and GPCC president Faleiro publicly distancing himself from Faleiro in the past.
When contacted, Faleiro stated that there is nothing to read in the photos, and that he had attended other first Holy Communion parties before attending that of the GPCC general secretary’s daughter. He added that he and Alemao had met informally.
Alemao concurred with Faleiro for once but stated that the function was a family affair and there was no political discussion between him and Faleiro.
“Luizinho and I did have some differences in opinion in the past. But the conditions and environment are not the same now. The differences we had have now subsided and the reportedly soured relations between me and Luizinho do not remain now,” said Alemao.
When questioned, Savio Coutinho said, “Live and let live. Even if they had not greeted each other, it would be news. At least in the beginning of a new year, they can’t be expected to hold swords instead of champagne glasses.”
Meanwhile, sources said that Alemao is firm on contesting from Benaulim in the 2017 elections and is hoping for a Congress ticket, while the option of contesting from Navelim is still open. On the other hand, there has been speculation about Faleiro or a close aide being interested in contesting from Navelim.
It may be recalled that Alemao and Faleiro had never missed an opportunity to take a dig at each other publically.
In the 2012 Assembly election, Faleiro had reportedly worked against Alemao in Navelim, while Faleiro had taken disciplinary action against Alemao for anti-party activities as soon as the former took over as president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee. Faleiro had recently also said that there is no question of the Congress aligning with Churchill again.
