GPCC chief insists aspiring candidates for tickets will be entertained by party High Command
MARGAO
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Luizinho Faleiro's boys Clafacio Dias, Wilfred D’Sa, Manohar Shirodkar and Nanu Gaonkar have further cemented a place in the Pradesh Congress Committee as party secretaries, courtesy Faleiro, even as the PCC chief insisted that the claims of the aspiring candidates for tickets will be entertained by the party leadership as per the laid down procedure.
Inducted into the party fold by Faleiro as part of his agenda to rope in young and new faces in the Congress only recently, the foursome Clafacio Dias, Wilfred D’Sa, Manohar Shirodkar and Nanu Gaonkar have emerged as strong ticket contenders in the four constituencies of Cuncolim, Nuvem, Bicholim and Sanguem respectively.
In fact, many an eyebrows have been raised in the Congress organisation over these four leaders being inducted into the party hierarchy as Secretaries, with many terming Faleiro’s decision as a reward to the foursome for accepting his offer to join the party. What’s interesting to note is that many in the Congress now perceive Clafacio, Wilfred, Manohar and Nanu as being candidates groomed by the party leadership headed by Faleiro for the 2017 Assembly election.
Faleiro, however, remains unfazed. “The appointment of the 10 new secretaries is part of the Congress agenda to bring and promote new faces in the party. We have been pursuing this agenda in keeping with the people’s aspirations for new faces. We are on the right track as we pursue the agenda to induct 10 new faces in every block," Faleiro told The Goan.
When it was pointed out to him that some of the appointees are strong contenders for the party ticket and that they have been promoted to the posts by him to prepare the groundwork for the 2017 election, Faleiro said, “it may be true that some of them may have ambitions to contest the election. It is not wrong to nurse any such ambition. But, the aspirants need to work for the party and the people before they stake their claim for the tickets."
“The perception that most of the newly appointed secretaries are ticket aspirants may not be true 100 per cent. There are some who are not into electoral politics. They may be only interested in working for the party," he added.
On allocation of tickets, Faleiro said that the party has a well laid down procedure wherein the party invites applications for tickets at the block level before the claims are scrutinized at the district and state level before the green signal comes from the party High Command.
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Time has come to hand over baton: Luizinho
Goa Pradesh Congress Party Committee (GPCC) President Luizinho Faleiro on Friday asserted that the time has come for him to hand over the baton as he has been able to put the organization on the rails during the last one year.
“From day one, I had asked my party men not to look at me as their competitor since I had come down to Goa only to build the organization as per the instruction of Congress President Sonia Gandhi. I feel that I have been able to put the organization in place to a large extent during the last one year. And, I feel that the time has come to step aside for the new leadership to take over the party reigns," Faleiro told The Goan on Friday.
“We leaders must step aside to pave way for the new leadership to take over. For the growth of the organization, the party should groom the second and third line leadership. Over the last one year, we have re-organised all the blocks and also constituted the frontal organisations and also put in place 14 different cells. I can say that the Congress party is a complete organsiation in Goa," he said.
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Monteiro unhappy over Clafacio's appointment
Appointment of Clafacio Dias as the PCC secretary came under strong opposition from the Cuncolim Congress leader, Adv John Monteiro, as he complained to the party leadership for the ill-conceived decision.
“How can the party leadership nominate Clafacio as the Party secretary when he had given an open call in the recently held election for the Cuncolim municipal poll to defeat candidates fielded by the Congress leaders. In fact, Adv Monteiro alleged that Clafacio had been hand in gloves with the BJP in the recent municipal poll and also during the Lok Sabha election held in 2014.
Adv Monteiro told the media that he has already conveyed his grievances to AICC secretary Girish Chodankar and has also communicated the development to AICC general secretary Digvijai Singh and Secretary Chella Kumar.
On the re-constitution of the new Cuncolim Block Congress panel, Adv Monteiro said he is not against newly appointed block President Landry Mascarenhas, but hastened to add that the party leadership did not consult local leaders before taking a call while conceding that the party leadership had asked him to submit his list of candidates for induction on the block panel.
