MARGAO: The news of Nuvem MLA Aleixo Sequeira defecting to the BJP was met with anger by a large section of the voters in the constituency. People who had campaigned or publicly backed Sequeira before the elections were also facing the heat more so because Nuvem has traditionally been a Congress bastion and now history has repeated. Previously it was the former Nuvem Congress MLA Wilfred D’Sa who had defected to the BJP.
However, the fresh developments have not been a surprise to some given that there was a section of Sequeira’s supporters who had recently encouraged him to join the BJP government.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Recently, some panchas from four of the six panchayats in Nuvem constituency, namely Verna, Loutolim, Nagoa and Majorda had urged Sequeira to defect after winning the panchayat elections.
“It was our view that commitments made to the voters were not getting fulfilled, such as development works or securing government jobs for constituents and these would only get fulfilled if he joined the government,” said one such panch member.
While there were still some panch members who opposed such a move, a majority of those who were staunch supporters of the Congress party felt betrayed and let down and they lamented that their families too had voted for Sequeira.
“As a supporter, I voted for Congress but now I feel betrayed, cheated and also sad for my fellow voters that MLAs don’t respect the mandate of the people. I had even given speeches at Sequeira’s meetings,” said Nuvem Congress member Ramiro Mascarenhas.
“His defection is nothing new to Nuvem constituents. Previously he had defected in 1999. He knows this is his last innings on Nuvem political turf so he may have no regrets but he has betrayed his voters, said Former Nuvem Sarpanch Pausilipo Dourado.
Dourado was amongst those who had claimed the Congress ticket for the Nuvem seat.
Another aspirant for the Nuvem Congress ticket, Everson Vales who is the former Block President lamented that the party leadership did not listen to him in the last elections, when he warned them about D’Sa and that he had warned P Chidambaram about Sequeira this time too.
“I am ashamed that Seqeuira has gone down to the level of such gutter politics and defected again. I could have understood if it was a newcomer. He took an oath before the Church and his actions today have destroyed and defiled the faith of the catholic people who comprise the majority of the constituents,” said Everson Vales.
A critic of Sequeira, former Nagoa panch Anzil Godinho said this should be a lesson for the Nuvem constituency voters, who elect anybody if he gets a Congress ticket irrespective of how honest or credible that candidate is.
“The ideology of those dedicated Congress voters has led to this and will continue in the future as tickets are given to those with influence. Least spoken about some of the religious leaders of the constituency, who use the pulpit in times of election is better,” said Godinho.
