TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Was the denial of ticket to daughter Valanka turned out to be the last straw for former PWD minister, Churchill Alemao ~ who had been literally isolated and relegated to the background, post-2012 ~ to threaten a revolt against the Congress party?
Well, sources said that Churchill had found himself isolated in the Congress hierarchy ~ in Goa and in Delhi post-2012 Assembly elections after the Alemao family faced a total rout in the hustings.
Sources in the know said that the former PWD minister was no more calling the shots in the party, unlike the five-year period when the Congress ruled the state between 2007-2012.
Even the high command was not ready to lend him an ear since the last two years. Churchill is sore that Congress President Sonia Gandhi had turned down his repeated requests for an audience over the last two years. It is learnt that Churchill tried to have an appointment with Ms Gandhi as many as 40 times, but his requests did not find favour with the Gandhi family. So much so, that his offer to take over the reigns of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee had found no favour with the Congress top brass on grounds he was a defeated candidate.
The Congress high command’s decision to elevate his arch rival Luizinho Faleiro as AICC General Secretary did not go down well with the former PWD minister. In fact, Churchill had told his close aides that he will not have any say in the party affairs as long as Faleiro called the shots in Delhi.
Moreover, Churchill saw red to the Party’s decision to induct Sunil Kawthankar as the Congress Secretary when the Parrikar government booked him under the Prevention of Corruption Act based on his complaint. He expressed his unhappiness over the party decision by deciding to stay away from the Congress house, but there was no one around to soothe the ruffled feathers.
The final straw came when Churchill’s hard lobbying for Valanka’s candidature came to a nought when the high command decided to settle for Reginaldo. Party’s decision to nominate Reginaldo added salt to Churchill’s injury as he held the Curtorim MLA responsible for denying Valanka the ticket in the 2007 by-poll and 2009 Lok Sabha poll. He also blamed Reginaldo for the covert and overt attempts to defeat daughter Valanka in the Youth Congress polls by raking up the family raj issue against her candidature.
Congress sources said that AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh and Secretary Chella Kumar spoke to Churchill on Wednesday not to take any hasty decision over Reginaldo’s candidature. His close friend and Independent MLA, Vijai Sardesai, who is believed to have lobbied hard for Reginaldo’s candidature, also called on him to do a re-think on his plans to throw his hat in the ring.
Churchill had in the past quit the Congress twice, first to form the PDF government in 1990 and then in 2007, to launch his own outfit Save Goa Front. Churchill’s 24-hour deadline expires on Thursday noon and questions are being asked in political circles whether the former PWD minister would execute his threat and contest the April 12 poll as an Independent.
