The Congress high command has finally given incumbent Girish Chodankar a vote of confidence and retained him as the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President going into the Assembly elections. The party has strategically appointed senior leader and former Power Minister Aleixo Sequeira as a working president to bring in a community balance, a move which will also work in Chodankar’s favour given the rapport between the two.
The High Command has tried to offset the opposition by offering lollipops to Chodankar’s opponents. South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco and Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro have been appointed as heads of various election committees. Faleiro is made the chairman of the election coordination committee, Sardinha is the chairperson of the finance committee and Lourenco will head the campaign committee along with Sangeeta Parab as a co-chairperson.
The common understanding is that in the larger scheme of things these panels are virtually meaningless, and their heads have an insignificant role in the run-up to elections, more especially because their functions are not clearly defined. In a party structure like Congress where hierarchies are barely respected, these committees would be practically useless, and leaders would care less for their agendas and action plans.
The leadership decision has opened up the Congress equations. While Chodankar gets the mandate to lead, Sequeira can consider this as a green signal for the Nuvem constituency ticket and Kamat has his path cleared to claim the chair should Congress triumph in the 2022 elections. Lest we forget, it was the leadership conflict that spelled the doom for Congress despite the clear mandate it got at the 2017 assembly elections.
The Congress high command has conveyed its decision and probably may have weighed in all factors before arriving at this conclusion. The impact of effecting a leadership change at this hour could cause massive and irreparable damage to the party’s poll prospects, given the ground situation where the party has gone on an induction spree, roping in leaders at will.
The party does not have the liberty of time to experiment when other political outfits have already hit the campaign trail. There are compelling reasons for the high command to overlook the voices against Chodankar along with his failures and shortcomings. The question is why was it delayed? Why did the central observers and Goa desk in-charge not prioritize this vexed issue for almost two years? Indecisiveness has been the hallmark of Congress, and that’s been the party’s biggest pitfall.
Despite the flaws and flak, Chodankar has tasted a decisive victory within the party, and it is to be seen how he moves with seniors who are vocally opposed to his leadership. Also watched will be the party’s stand on alliances since the Goa Forward Party and Nationalist Congress Party are knocking on the doors, and Kamat is open to exploring possibilities. While Chodankar continues to bat with Kamat at the other end, it remains to be seen how this partnership manages to resurrect the party’s sagging image and electoral fortunes. Time will tell.
