Congress promise to reward loyalty & sincerity is hollow

| SEPTEMBER 28, 2021, 11:52 PM IST

A day after former Navelim MLA Luizinho hogged political limelight, the focus shifted to the Congress party as former Independent MLA Avertano Furtado was given a flowery welcome into the fold. The easy-going former footballer is the latest addition to the Congress team, one which is fast turning out to be a combination of legislators who were once cozy with the BJP or who had deserted the party to serve personal political ambitions.

Furtado is among the four former legislators -- Benjamin D'Silva, Francisco Xavier alias Mickky Pacheco and Caitu Silva -- who were part of the BJP-led dispensation during the Manohar Parrikar regime of 2012. Understandably the Congress is trying to fill the void created by the exit of Faleiro by zeroing on Furtado for his 2012 win, but it is forgetting the assurances given to grass-root workers and party supporters that new and aspiring faces will get a chance. It is forgetting the assurances of rewarding loyalty and hard work.

In Delhi, former Calangute MLA Agnelo Fernandes gets an assurance from Rahul Gandhi that “loyalty and sincerity will be rewarded”. We can’t see loyal and true party soldiers being rewarded so far. What is seen is contrary to what Gandhi is promising. The party revival plan has been hinging on politicos who have fallen out and seeking rehabilitation, or those who have broken ranks with others. The State party leadership continues to play opportunistic politics. A cursory look reveals that all those who fought pitched battles against the Congress during their honeymoon with the BJP, and who mocked at them, have now been embraced and placed on a high pedestal.

While the Congress always had their internal bickering over old and new faces, the party leadership of Girish Chodankar and Digambar Kamat is facing a trust deficit, and that is showing. The Congress leadership may take Faleiro exit in its stride because it suits both sides, but the fact that there is an exodus starring at the party with leaders contemplating moving out and joining Aam Aadmi Party and the soon-to-arrive Trinamool Congress, are major reasons to worry. To make matters worse veteran leaders like Pratapsingh Rane and Ravi Naik are contemplating handing over the baton to their kin, and the lone warrior in Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo remains isolated from party affairs.

It is unfortunate that even the induction of a senior observer of the stature of P Chidambaram, who has been descending in Goa frequently, failed to douse the burning flames of rebellion within the party. Rahul Gandhi’s call for an aggressive poll campaign is meaningless against the backdrop of the internal politics which has hit the party. Instead of spitting fire on other parties for poaching and engineering defections, Congress will have to do some soul-searching and feel the pulse of party men across the board. The turmoil and uncertainty in Congress do not bode well for the party's electoral aspirations.


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