MARGAO
A sense of betrayal and backstabbing prevails amongst Congress leaders over the selection of candidate for the Benaulim seat, with flamboyant former Minister Mickky Pacheco quitting the party, while women ticket aspirants terming the candidate selection a betrayal by the party leadership.
Soon after quitting the Congress, Mickky said he would return back to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) fold to contest the ensuing polls from his former Nuvem constituency. He further said that Congress leaders as well as like-minded people from Benaulim will meet in a day or two to decide the candidate for Benaulim constituency on the NCP banner.
Mickky as well as the women ticket aspirants, Royla Fernandes and Gina Pereira slammed the leadership, saying Congress election observer P Chidambaram’s oft repeated slogan ‘block will decide’ was thrown to the winds to give ticket to a candidate two days after joining the party.
While Mickky has tendered his resignation, both Royla and Gina said they will remain with the party and fight out the issues facing the Congress party.
In his resignation letter, Mickky said he had joined the Congress party with great aspirations. “I had great plans and lots to offer to elevate the grand old party to its former glory. I had tons of experience of being a prominent Goa Minister in the recent past. I could bring down drowning deaths to almost zero during my stint as Minister and I would also prevent a Congress party death and revive the party with ease,” he said in his letter addressed to GPCC chief Girish Chodankar.
On the Benaulm ticket, Mickky said, “Imagine a non-entity being brought into the party and given a party ticket within 48 hours. The crippled slogan ‘block will decide’ was more deceiving than real.”
Saying that he has already started his campaign in Nuvem constituency under the NCP banner, Mickky said he would soon carry out the formality of joining the NCP. “The NCP is not new for me. I was the party MLA for two terms representing Benaulim constituency. This time, I have decided to contest the coming polls from Nuvem,” he added.
As far as Benaulim is concerned, Mickky said a couple of prospective candidates have made claim for the NCP ticket to contest from Benaulim. “These candidates will sit in a day or two and support a consensus candidate who will fight the elections on the NCP banner,” he added.
