TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
CALANGUTE: With Congress North Goa candidate Ravi Naik having contacted Calangute Panchayat’s de factor leader Joseph Sequeira for support in Calangute panchayat, political equations have changed in Calangute within a gap of barely two years as friends have turned foes and vice versa in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
During the assembly polls in 2012, Michael Lobo had joined hands with Calangute Panchayat’s de facto leader Joseph Sequeira to overthrow then MLA Agnelo Fernandes.
Following a rift with Lobo, Sequeira is now likely to campaign for Congress Candidate Ravi Naik in Calangute constituency, thereby joining hands with his former rival, Agnelo Fernandes.
According to reliable sources, Sequeira and Fernandes are likely to campaign for Ravi Naik in Calangute on Friday, while Lobo has already started the campaign for Shripad Naik in Calangute.
It is reliably learnt that Ravi Naik had called on Sequeira after filing his nomination for the North Goa Parliamentary seat and had persuaded the Calangute leader to extend his support to him and the Congress party.
It is also learnt that Sequeira along with his panchayat members have assured to extend their support to Naik in Calangute.
When contacted, Sequeira refused to comment but he admitted that Ravi Naik had called him to seek the support of Calangute Panchayat. “Wait and Watch,” said Sequeira, when asked to comment on his support to either the BJP or Congress.
The likelihood of Sequeira and Fernandes joining hands could unnerve the BJP camp, as Shripad Naik campaigns along with Lobo in the Calangute constituency on Saturday, while Ravi Naik along with leaders of Calangute and Candolim will begin his campaign in Calangute on Friday. Lobo was however hopeful that all the Calangute Panchayat members would back Shripad.
