the goan I network
MARGAO
The race for the Congress ticket for the Curtorim Zilla Panchayat seat has reached a decisive stage as the battle seems to have narrowed down between two contenders “ Michelle Rebello, wife of sitting ZP member Moreno and Sao Jose de Areal village panch member Andrea Fernandes.
What’s interesting to note is that while the Curtorim Block Congress Committee has suggested the name of Michelle for the Congress ticket, the South Goa District Congress committee is believed to have recommended Andrea’s candidature for the ticket.
Even as the State party leadership is expected to take a call on the candidate for the Curtorim ZP seat reserved for women, supporters and well-wishers of sitting ZP Member Moreno held an impressive meeting at Curtorim on Thursday evening in support of Michelle.
While the speakers demanded that the Congress nominate Moreno’s wife Michelle for the ticket, there were others, who said that Michelle should throw her hat in the electoral ring as an independent if the party does not nominate her for the Curtorim seat.
In an added twist to the Curtorim ticket race, Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco has gone on record saying he has been kept in the dark by the Curtorim Congress Committee while suggesting Michelle’s name for the ticket. Sitting ZP member, Moreno, however, claimed that a delegation of the sarpanchas and elected representatives of the three panchayats of Curtorim, Sao Jose de Areal and Macazana, the villages that make up the Curtorim ZP seat, had all called on the MLA seeking his support for Michelle’s candidature.
Incidentally, the South Goa District Congress Committee has recommended Andrea’s name for the Curtorim ticket on the ground that she is a party member, a panch of the Sao Jose de Areal panchayat and enjoys a good rapport with the constituents.
Michelle’s name ostensibly was not recommended by the District Committee, though it has been forwarded to the PCC on the ground that she is not a member of the party.
Party Vice-president M K Sheikh, however, has told the district panel that Michele has joined the party recently.
Moreno, however, disputed the contention of the District Committee by saying wife Michelle has indeed joined the Congress party a few days ago after the party decided to contest the polls on the party banner. “At yesterday’s meeting at Curtorim, the people have presented my wife Michelle as the candidate. The block committee has also supported her candidature,” Moreno said, adding “if the Congress party does not wish to nominate her for the ticket, the people will decide on the future course of action,” he added.
