Congress’ new entrant Mickky Pacheco is seen with Fatorda block members and district member Ethel Lobo at the South Goa district office on Wednesday. Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO: A day after the big jolt with the exit of Congress leaders, new entrant Mickky Pacheco visited Fatorda on Wednesday to contain further damage to the party in the constituency and vowed to take forward the legacy of ST leader and three-time former MLA Luis Alex Cardozo to rebuild the party ahead of 2022 Assembly election.
Mickky said party workers are bound to get demoralized when party leaders talk of alliances in Fatorda since there’s a Congress organization and block in place. “When other parties are asking for an alliance and if the party decides to go for the alliance, the workers will get demoralized as they have been working for long for the party”, Mickky told ‘The Goan’ after meeting with workers party workers in Fatorda.
That the party leadership has drafted Mickky to Fatorda assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of the fact that he along with GPCC chief Girish Chodankar has been strong opponent of alliance with like-minded political parties including the Goa Forward, which has been seeking an alliance with the Congress for some time now. Fatorda is the home constituency of Goa Forward Chief Vijai Sardesai, who had an alliance with Leader of Opposition DIgambar Kamat for the Margao Municipal polls earlier this year.
After an interaction with party workers, Mickky said the workers were of the view that the party should take the legacy of ST leader and three-time former MLA Luis Alex Cardozo forward in Fatorda to keep the party in good stead. He further said that talks of alliance will not arise in Fatorda when a strong block is put in place in the constituency. “Party workers sought to know the stand of the party on many issues. They pointed out that the Congress had ruled Fatorda for 15 years during the tenure of MLA Luis Alex Cardozo. We have to take Cardozo’s legacy forward and get his family members into the party”, he said.
Saying that he has been entrusted the charge of Fatorda by the party leadership, including Leader of Opposition, to start the work from the constituency, Mickky has promised to reconstitute the Fatorda block within two weeks with a membership drive. “I told the workers who attended the meeting to talk about the future and to leave behind the past. They are convinced and they have decided to work unitedly for the party”, he said.
He added: “I asked for their views and difficulties and I have heard them. Within two weeks, the Fatorda block will be reconstituted with a full-fledged block President and committee. The Block will decide who will be the candidate for Fatorda. I have taken everyone views and they have conveyed their feelings and sentiments. We have exchanged our views how to go about the work. They are all ready to work and get people on board in the party”.
Saying that the Congress will start election preparedness from Fatorda, Mickky said the Fatorda block will be reconstituted first to give the election process a big momentum ahead of 2022.
Fatorda block working president Yogesh Nagvenkar, Ethel Lobo and a couple of other workers were present during the interaction.
