‘Had warned Kamat, Aleixo not to downplay clergy’
TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Blaming the failure of the leadership for the state of affairs in the Congress party, former Water Resources Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues on Tuesday lamented that the party leadership is yet to have a chintan baitak, a brainstorming session or a post mortem on the reasons behind the defeat of the party in the 2012 Assembly polls.
Filipe Neri further said that he had warned the party leadership, including then Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and Power Minister Aleixo Sequeira not to underestimate the clergy, saying the clergy is a strong force in Goa.
While addressing congress workers at the South Goa district office at a function organised by Seva Dal to pay respects to late Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, Filipe Neri said the party today lacks the leadership which will take all the people along with them. “Today, there’s no leader who will promote workers in the State. They have a fear that hard-working party workers will come up. These are the leaders who have finished the party because of their selfish motive, but the party has survived because of its strong foundation,” he added.
Saying that there’s no leadership to take all the people together, Filipe Neri said the Congress is suffering its fate because of the leadership.
Referring to his defeat in the hustings, he said though a conspiracy was hatched to get him defeated by dragging the clergy, first with the Income Tax raid and then by the CID’s presence in the Velim Church, the party leadership had not deemed fit or had the time to visit Velim. “No doubt, Congress leader Oscar Fernandes had come down to Velim, but it was too late. Oscar was explained that the hatred of the people was not against the Central Congress leadership, but against the state leadership since they failed to address issues affecting the community,” he said.
“I had told our Chief Minister and Aleixo Sequeira that I will not mind losing from Velim, but the Velim episode will have repercussions everywhere. I had warned the CM not to underestimate the clergy since it is a strong force in Goa today,” he said.
Underlining the need to forge unity and work for the party, Filipe Neri made an appeal to the AICC General Secretary Luizinho Faleiro to guide the party by using his good office, rich political and administrative experience.
