TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: A pep talk and an SMS from Nationalist Congress Party’s general secretary Praful Patel was all it took for the party’s Goa unit senior vice president Jose Philip D’Souza and 19 others to hold back their collective resignation, which they had sent to the high command on the appointment of Adv Suhas Volvoikar as the state party president.
Volvoikar’s appointment has been stayed with Patel confirming that a new president will be appointed only after he comes down and holds fresh consultation.
The group of 20 claimed that Volvoikar was neither on the executive committee nor even a member of the NCP and his appointment has come as a disgrace to the party.
The move came as a relief to D’Souza and 19 other members, including Trajano D’Mello, Salim Sayed and Arjun Aroskar, who had on Sunday faxed a collective resignation letter to national president Sharad Pawar.
Speaking to media persons, D’Souza said he received a call from Patel late Sunday evening, informing him that Volvoikar was removed from the position.
“Earlier, when the party observer came to Goa to assess the situation, he made it very clear that only an executive committee member from Goa would be made the president. So we were shocked that they finally decided on choosing someone who isn’t even known. He wasn’t even a member of the NCP. Later, after we sent in the resignation, we were informed that the appointment of the new NCP state president was stayed and that another name would be decided after consideration with the State unit,” he said.
They said the members have decided to hold off the resignation for another week. It was also revealed that Patel would make a trip to Goa to discuss on who may be the next president. D’Souza said he would follow any directions from the party central, but called his last stint as state unit president “too much to take”.
In its collective resignation the NCP group had said, “The decision of appointing Adv Suhas Volvoikar as the Goa state president has come as a disgrace to the party.” It went on to say that he had never worked for the party and isn’t well known to the people of Goa either. “On the contrary his credentials are in serious doubts, which will be clear to everyone in the days to come,” the letter said.
Despite the let down by the high command, the Goa NCP unit members say they are still willing to stay with the party and have not looked at this situation as a breach of trust.
