On paper, the team led by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Girish Chodankar appears a cohesive lot, while on the ground a different picture emerges. At a time when the big poll stage is taking shape and pitched battles are being fought between the coalition and the Congress, there are contrasting moves being made in the background. Otherwise, how does one explain a resurgent and vocal Leader of the Opposition Babu Kavlekar making a quiet entry to TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai’s residence, on a day when another outspoken Congress leader Reginaldo Lourenco also made his presence at Danvodem?
If Vijai’s Plan B was targeted at the MGP, there is Plan C in the making with focus on Congress. With the BJP numbers going down with the passing away of Francis D’Souza, it is but obvious that Sardesai, who has been the mastermind for the BJP-led government till now, will find a split-Congress easy to target in case of any further setbacks, including a bypoll loss. Engineering a further defection on the lines of Subash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte within the Congress will mean that it will no longer enjoy the status of the single largest party and in the same stroke will ensure that the BJP remains afloat with a reduced strength of the Assembly.
With public resentment simmering in the background, no party is ready for a mid-term election and the majority in the cabinet are against dissolution. Goa has been a testing ground for political defections, and continues to be so. It is a matter of regret that these plans of government survival are sheer experiments against people’s mandate.
Internal dissentions have always hurt the Congress. With elections round the corner, the chinks in the Congress are beginning to widen. Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro ruled himself out of the Lok Sabha contest, but not before letting out steam against a section of his own partymen and senior Central leader Digvijaya Singh. It’s almost two years, but the infamous failure to form a government in 2017, despite having a clear majority is still rankling Faleiro. The anger was evident since he declined the CLP leadership and the Leader of Opposition posts. But how does this connect to the Lok Sabha election? And where does this decision stand vis-Ã -vis party interests?
Luizinho has come hard at MLAs who promised to form a government within 24 hours after he resigned as GPCC President. The united front that the Congress projected stands exposed. The timing of this outburst doesn’t bode well for the party which is facing crucial elections. Surprisingly, the Congress, for all the plans of appointing senior legislators on bypoll duty, is still to get its act together. Leave aside the Lok Sabha poll, the Shiroda, Mandrem and Mapusa bypoll could be a do-or-die test for the grand old party if it nurses any ambition of taking a shot at power. For all the plans which are being worked in the background by the ruling, the Congress must realize that the ball is in their court for now.
