MARGAO
With time running out to shortlist candidates for the ensuing polls, Congress entered the fast lane on Monday as the party sat on the task of shortlisting candidates for the Curtorim seat.
This is the second time in the last two months that the Congress is shortlisting the names of candidates after the exit of three-time MLA Reginaldo Lourenco from the party after his candidature was cleared in the first list of party candidates.
At the block meeting held at Curtorim on Monday, which was attended by party observers and GPCC vice-president M K Sheikh, the block is believed to have recommended the names of four candidates for the ticket. The list includes Shalom, son of South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, Curtorim Zilla panchayat member Michele Rebello, her husband Moreno, who has made returned to Congress after a brief association with BJP, and Congress veteran Joseph Vaz is the fourth candidate whose name has been recommended for the ticket.
Given that the process of shortlisting candidates had ended last month, the party leadership placed the names of candidates before the South Goa district Committee on Monday noon, before the same was forwarded to the Pradesh Election Committee (PEC).
Sources in the know in private said the Congress leadership has a tough task at hand to shortlist candidates for the Curtorim seat after South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha has rallied behind son Shalom for the nomination. In fact, if sources are to be believed, Sardinha has cautioned party leaders not to take his claim for the ticket lightly since Curtorim has been his home constituency.
On the other hand, sources say a section of the party opposed to Sardinha has managed to bring back Moreno from the BJP after party candidate, Reginaldo Lourenco quit, with a promise to field him as a Congress candidate.
