Team Herald
PANJIM: Some Congress veteran leaders, who do not step out of their backyards to come to the Congress office in Panjim, spent the better part of last weekend in Delhi lobbying for the GPCC president’s post. The lobbying is perhaps another shot at relevance. And at a time when the party is looking at a fresh approach and fresh leaders, Francisco Sardinha and Ravi Naik, arrived in the cold of Delhi, in the hope that they could warm the Goa Congress president’s chair. The current president Shantaram Naik wants to retain his job and he too was a part of the lobbying party.
Shantaram, along with his principal general secretary Altinho Gomes, who is always by his side, camped in Delhi from December 1 to 4.
The announcement of the new state chief is expected only after the Gujarat Assembly elections.
Former Chief Ministers Ravi and Sardinha, along with their supporters, were in Delhi from December 2-4. While Ravi has returned to attend a family function, Sardinha is still in the national capital.
The only veteran who was in Delhi, but not to lobby for himself, was Luizinho Faleiro. But it’s apparent that Faleiro has been advocating a fresh young face to give fillip to the party, in a political landscape that needs deftness and alacrity. Extremely young Adv Yatish Naik, who
has emerged as dark horse candidate, behind the front runner Girish Chodankar, a member of Rahul Gandhi’s core team, has the tacit blessings of Faleiro. Yatish Naik can’t even be called a young turk. By Congress standards, he is a baby turk, who is extremely articulate and presents issues succinctly.
Chodankar, of course has emerged a front-runner due to his spirited fight in the Panjim by-election against Manohar Parrikar when there were hardly any Congressmen to contest against the Chief Minister.
“Girish and Yatish are the only two strong contenders for the post. Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that he would like to have a young and new face to head the party at the State level. The opinion is not just restricted to Goa but across all States. Rahul wants a young team under the guidance of senior leaders,” a highly-placed source said.
“Shantaram, Ravi, Sardinha, are trying their luck. They have been meeting Rahul, Sonia and other AICC leaders to put up a strong case,” the source said.
When contacted, Shantaram said that he is not in the race but will respect the AICC president’s decision. “I am not in the race hence there is no question of any lobbying for the post. We have authorised the AICC president to nominate. We will respect the decision,” he said.
The delay in Rahul’s appointment as INC Chief, has forced the Congress in Goa to continue with its old team at the State, district and block levels. Rahul, INC vice-president on Monday filed his nomination for the post of president. He will succeed his mother Sonia as there is no other nomination filed for the post.
