Sandesh Prabhudesai
18 May 1999
Congress appears to be in a tight spot as expected with 25 ‘loyal
soldiers’ revolting against the party for denying them tickets in almost half of the
constituencies out of total 40 while two regional parties also posing a serious threat to
a few Congress strongholds.
Three each of these rebels have filled nominations of the regional
parties - the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, the United Goans Democratic Party and the
Goa Rajiv Congress. The rest are all independents.
Luizinho Faleiro, the Goa PCC chief, dismisses any possibility of such
a rebellion spoiling party prospects. "Majority of the people would vote for the
Congress because only we can provide a stable government here", he claims.
In last nine years, Congress alone has given seven chief ministers to
the tourist state while their government was toppled at least thrice due to rebellion
within his own party. In fact, Dr Wilfred de Souza’s GRC is a mere outshoot of such a
coup which ultimately led to premature dissolution of the House.
The rebels now include at least 11 former legislators who have been
denied tickets by the party leadership. Three of them in fact were the MLAs in the last
Assembly while the rest were either ministers or MLAs earlier.
For the first time, rebellion is also witnessed against Congress
stalwarts like Pratapsing Rane, Ravi Naik and Churchill Alemao - all former chief
ministers - as well as other prominent aspirants for the CM’s chair like Dayanand
Narvekar and Francisco Sardinha.
Dr Wilfred de Souza, who still claims to be a Congressman but heads the
Goa Rajiv Congress, has allotted tickets to three such rebels including Dr Carmo Pegado,
who had left him last month to join the Congress fold.
He has also fielded GRC candidates against Congress leaders like PCC
chief Faleiro, also yet another former CM, as well as in other Congress strongholds. His
basic gameplan appears to emerge as a villain for Congress defeat and then enter the party
as its saviour.
The UGDP, which survived due to its strong anti-Congress plank even
after Churchill Alemao joining the Congress, has also declared three Congress rebels and
one GRC rebel as its candidates. "The workers’ pressure compelled us to do
so", claims its leader Radharao Gracias.
The MGP, which was trying to align with the BJP to fight its
‘common enemy’ like Congress, is no different. Their five such defectors include
three Congress rebels and two former party colleagues who have rejoined the party after
‘touring’ all the parties and enjoying ministerial positions.
"Why should it affect our party image ? Every party has done the
same thing", says Prof Surendra Sirsat, the MGP president. Claiming that the move is
not at all suicidal, he feels proud for playing such a shrewd political game.
He is not even bothered about the history being repeated in future as
the MGP has always remained a ready-made workshop for the Congress when they fall short of
legislators to form the government. "We have taken precautions that they would not
defect", he claims, but declines to explain how it is possible.
"They are taking people for granted and would be given a fitting
reply on 4 June", feels BJP leader Manohar Parrikar, though his party has also
hijacked one or two fresh MGP faces as his candidates. According to him, it is a desperate
attempt to survive on outside oxygen which would prove fatal for all these parties.
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