MARGAO
Even as the dust kicked up over Congress’ electoral debacle is settling down, the storm that hit the Congress camp in Margao over the denial of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) post to former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat seemed to have refused to die down.
In fact, over a month after the election result saw the Congress stranded midway with just 11 seats, angry Congress party workers from Margao have posed an oft-repeated question “ whether the Congress leadership would have made Kamat the Chief Minister in the event the party crossed the magic figure of 21 seats? Workers further went on to ask whether the Congress leadership had another candidate in mind for the post of Chief Minister and whether that was the reason why the party did not project Kamat as the Chief Ministerial face in the run up to the polls?
These and other questions not only took the centrestage at a meeting of the Margao Congress block committee attended by Kamat, but the workers conveyed an united message to the Margao MLA “ you take any decision and the workers will elect you even as an Independent.
That the meeting of workers may set the agenda and decide the political future of the seven-time Margao MLA became evident when a prominent worker thundered at the meeting that they will all rally behind Kamat to get him elected to the Assembly even as an Independent, with sources saying this is a clear signal that Kamat’s dedicated band of workers are preparing for any eventuality in the event the Margao MLA calls spade a spade.
Kamat’s trusted lieutenant, Margao Municipal councillor and GPCC general secretary, set the ball rolling at the meeting when he questioned whether the Congress would have made the Margao MLA the Chief Minister if the party had crossed the magic figure of 21 seats. He demanded to know how Kamat was ignored and sidelined by the party leadership at the time of appointing the CLP leader after the election.
Other workers wondered why the party leadership did not take their MLA into confidence before taking a call on the CLP post, even claimed the leadership had called GPCC chief Girish Chodankar before taking the decision.
Sources say the workers in one voice told the MLA to take any decision on his political future and they will all rally behind him.
Kamat, source said, sought to sooth ruffled feathers and tried to pacify his workers, but is reported to have given vent to his sentiments that the leadership did not even consult him nor take him into confidence while deciding on the question of CLP leadership.
“I fully understand the sentiments of my workers, who had worked hard and toiled on the ground over the years for my success. For quite some time now the workers have been expressing their sentiments, but I had requested them not to go to the public. Hence, the block meeting was called to take stock of the situation and to ensure the party workers air their sentiments within the party forum,” Kamat told The Goan.
He added: “I gave a patient hearing to my workers and assured that l will take note of their sentiments and grievances.”
