MARGAO
Affirming that NCP top leaders Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel have conveyed to him that nothing has been finalized on the question of forging an alliance with the Congress, the party’s lone MLA Churchill Alemao on Saturday said he would take a final call on his future political future on November 29.
Briefing the media, Churchill said the time has finally come to take a call on his political future.
“I am tired of hearing of talks on the Congress-NCP alliance for the last eight months. Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali festivals have come and gone and the proposed Cong-NCP alliance is not taking shape yet. Hence, I have decided to chalk out my future political course on November 29,” he said.
“I discussed the alliance issue with party leaders Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel, and they told me that nothing is finalized yet. Pawar told me it will happen, but no one knows when. I cannot wait any longer. I have to
take a call on my future,” he said.
Sources said the Benaulim MLA has started interactions with party workers in Benaulim and Navelim, where he has plans to field daughter Valanka in the coming polls.
He declined to comment on questions whether he intends to quit the NCP or join the new political parties that have entered the state in recent months.
Saying that the Congress party of the 21st century is not the same Congress of the past, Churchill said the present Congress leadership should know the ground reality and should not stand on false prestige.
“Some of these Congress leaders called me a grandfather when I had approached for a ticket in 2017, but the people of Benaulim elected me with a huge margin. The Congress is still thinking of the past. They think only someone from the Gandhi family should become the Prime Minister of the country,” he said.
Asserting that the majority of the Hindus are secular, Churchill said if Hindus were no secular, Goa would not have maintained its distinct identity and the state would have been part of Maharashtra during the Opinion Poll. “I can say that Hindus are secular in nature. That’s the reason Goa voted against the merger to preserve its unique identity,” he added.
Saying that he had only extended issue-based support to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Churchill said Congress leaders such as Francisco Sardinha had become Chief Minister and Aleixo Sequeira a minister with the support of the BJP.
‘Who is Jose Philip to talk on alliance?’
MARGAO: Who is Jose Philip D’Souza? Churchill Alemao sought to know on Saturday when the media drew his attention to the recent statement made by the NCP state president that alliance talks between the Congress and NCP are presently underway.
“Who is Jose Philip D’Souza to comment on alliance when our national leaders, including Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel, have said nothing is finalized. Jose Philip is not elected. I do not know on what basis he is talking about the alliance,” he added.
