Will these two Congress heavyweights “ former power minister, Alexio Sequeira and former urban development minister, Joaquim Alemao “ pull the right strings in Delhi and bag the party nomination for the Nuvem and Cuncolim Assembly seats respectively in the 2017 Assembly polls?
The fate of these former Congress ministers literally hangs in the balance as their claim for party tickets has met with stiff challenge from new faces being groomed and promoted by Goa Congress Chief Luizinho Faleiro and his coterie within the party.
It is an open secret that the local Congress leadership appears to be opposed to their bid for seeking nomination for the party tickets. In fact, the Congress group led by Faleiro has been openly backing Zilla Panchayat members -- Clafacio Dias for the Cuncolim seat and Wilfred D’Sa for Nuvem “ in their bid to bring in new faces in the coming election. That both Clafacio and Wilfred have found favour with the Faleiro group has been amply evident by the fact that the duo had found mention in the party magazine as new and emerging faces ready to take up challenges in the party.
Sources in the know, however, point out that both Alexio and Joaquim cannot be underestimated as they still wield considerable influence amongst Congress leaders in Delhi. Take the case of the former power minister. Alexio is one senior Congress leader who is credited in the party for making available posh and spacious offices for the Congress party, including the South Goa district party office during his tenure as power minister. That’s not all. He still enjoys a close rapport with senior party leaders in Delhi, including veteran Congress leader, Margaret Alva. In fact, it is learnt that during her visit to Goa a week ago, Alva was reportedly taken aback when she was told that attempts are made to deny the Nuvem ticket for the former power minister.
On the other hand, two-time former Cuncolim MLA Joaquim Alemao appears to be banking on Congress leaders, including AICC general secretary in-charge of Goa desk Digvijaya Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik and others. Questions are being raised within Congress circles whether the local party leadership will prefer to have no truck with the Alemao family in the coming election, with Churchill Alemao having embraced the Nationalist Congress Party while Joaquim is facing a tough battle to get the Congress nomination for the party ticket.
Incidentally, both Alexio and Joaquim had made their presence felt at the Congress padyatra when a group of padyatris entered Nuvem and Cuncolim respectively earlier this month. The two former ministers were also present at the Congress rally addressed by Rahul Gandhi at the SAG ground, Fatorda. Interestingly, while Joaquim Alemao has kicked off his campaign for the ensuing Assembly election with or without the Congress ticket, sources revealed that Alexio has not yet given any indication on his political future if denied the party ticket.
What’s interesting to note that while the Faleiro camp makes no bones of the fact that new faces are being groomed in Cuncolim and Nuvem as part of the exercise to induct young blood in the party, supporters of these heavyweights are vocal in attributing the overt and covert attempts by the rival camp to sideline both Alexio and Joaquim since the duo have fallen out with state leaders who are calling the shots in party affairs.
