Congress party leaders after all the venom spewed on party deserters and defectors, and the grand talk of making a new beginning are once again taking a predictably old path. The anger, resentment and fiery exchanges by loyal Velim Congress workers at former Velim MLA Benjamin D'Silva re-induction function go to show that the party has complete disregard for grass-root workers and are not interested in taking them into confidence over crucial decisions.
Partymen leaving the party for greener pastures and finding acceptability on the eve of elections has been a common practice within Congress. However, a lot was expected to change after a 10-member group joined ranks with the BJP government reducing the grand old party to a minuscule minority. Since then, an angered Congress leadership has been repeatedly harping against defections.
The All India Congress Committee in-charge for Goa, Dinesh Gundu Rao has reiterated at almost every meeting that the party has shut its doors to MLAs that “backstabbed the party”. The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar has toed a similar line and even doled out an assurance to cadre that Congress will give a chance to at least 70 per cent new faces.
Benjamin’s re-entry will come as a rude shock for the many that held out hopes of a change. And there are justifiable reasons for dissent because Benjamin had contested against Congress at the 2012 elections. This sets a horrible precedent against what the party workers were hoping for because it simply means party deserters are still welcome. The Benjamin induction could be an indicator of what is to follow as many other defectors are bracing up to do a 'ghar wapsi'.
The Congress has played this script times and again, despite the countless defections it has encountered. The stand that party leadership cannot stop those who want to join the party with a mind to defeat the BJP is laughable against what was propagated all along and it is as ludicrous as defectors saying they jumped ship for development.
An interesting argument raised now is that party deserters are being re-instated with no assurance of a ticket. Once again, there is no merit here because going by the past there is nothing to suggest that Congress has applied a methodology or conducted a survey while distributing tickets. Benjamin has declared that he will stake a claim for the Congress ticket in Velim, and that’s the reason he is back, obviously not for charity.
The party leadership continues to give a glimmer of hope to many aspiring candidates, only to let them down. The high drama and the vocal outbursts witnessed at the South Goa District Congress Office not only exposed the rank and file of the party but have also made a mockery of all the talk of rebuilding. Benjamin’s re-induction will leave a vast section of party workers across the State disillusioned once again.
