MARGAO
Moves by the Congress leadership to induct new faces, including potential candidates, into the party fold ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections appear to have triggered uneasiness among grassroots workers, threatening to upset existing internal calculations.
As the party prepares to open its doors to new entrants, barring those with a history of defection, grassroots workers who have kept the Congress flag flying in their constituencies are now trying to assess what the emerging political developments could mean for them.
A case in point is the growing anxiety among Congress workers in traditional party strongholds such as Nuvem, Velim and Benaulim. Local workers are understood to have expressed strong reservations about plans to induct new faces who were not associated with the Congress during the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 Zilla Panchayat elections.
Party workers have, in their own way, conveyed a clear message to the leadership to tread cautiously while inducting new faces and potential candidates. They want the leadership to carefully scrutinise the antecedents of prospective entrants, including their proximity to the ruling BJP dispensation and whether they have, in the past, held positions of power or benefited politically with the support of the ruling establishment.
An indication of the sentiment came recently at a meeting of Nuvem block Congress workers, where grassroots leaders reportedly voiced strong apprehensions over any move to induct new faces, including potential candidates, into the party ahead of the Assembly elections.
The concerns raised by Nuvem workers may only be the tip of the iceberg. Reports suggest that grassroots workers who have worked to keep the Congress flag flying in Benaulim, Velim, Navelim and Curtorim are also seeking greater attention from the party leadership as it weighs its electoral strategy.
For these workers, the issue is not merely about expanding the party's support base, but also about protecting the interests and political space of those who have remained with the Congress through difficult electoral cycles. The leadership's approach to the proposed inductions could therefore have a bearing on internal cohesion as the party prepares for the Assembly battle.
Nuvem workers urge caution over new admissions
Congress workers in Nuvem, who ensured a big lead for Captain Viriato Fernandes in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and retained the Nuvem Zilla Panchayat seat with a convincing victory in 2025, have urged the party leadership to exercise caution while inducting new faces and potential candidates into the party fold.
The workers, who maintain that the party’s electoral performance was achieved without the active involvement of political heavyweights, have sent a clear message to the Congress leadership to thoroughly scrutinise the antecedents of those seeking entry into the party.
“We have held the party fort intact in the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 ZP polls. Our only message to the party leadership is to please study the antecedents of those intending to join the party. Nuvem Congress has witnessed back-to-back defections over the last five years. Don’t induct anyone into the party merely by citing political survey reports,” a Nuvem Congress leader said.
The leader stressed that the Congress in Nuvem draws its strength from the people of the constituency rather than from any individual leader.
“We have seen this in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and again in the 2025 ZP polls. During the ZP polls, political observers had written off the Congress over its choice of candidate. But the people rallied behind the party and elected a good and honest candidate,” he said.
The sentiments expressed by Nuvem Congress workers assume significance against the backdrop of reports that the party is considering the induction of former Goa Vikas Party leader Lyndon Monteiro and others into the party fold.
Benaulim workers watch Alemao move
The presence of youth leader Warren Alemao at Congress House earlier this week has triggered considerable discussion within Congress circles and among political observers in coastal Benaulim.
Questions are being raised over whether Alemao could finally join the Congress after reportedly knocking on the party’s doors for several months.
The development has also become a talking point among local Congress workers, who have kept the party flag flying in Benaulim and recently helped the Congress defeat the Aam Aadmi Party candidate in the 2025 Zilla Panchayat election.
The development comes at a time when Benaulim Congress workers are gearing up for the 2027 Assembly election. Benaulim Zilla Panchayat member Luiza Rodrigues, who defeated the AAP candidate in the 2025 election, had recently expressed her willingness to contest the Assembly election on the Congress banner.
With the aspirations of existing party workers on one side and the possible entry of new political faces on the other, how the Congress leadership strikes a balance ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls remains to be seen.
