MARGAO
Candid admission by former Aam Admi Party State Convenor, Elvis Gomes that he is in talks with Congress leadership to join the party, apparently with an eye on ticket, may set in motion intense political activity in Cuncolim Congress unit ahead of the 2022 Assembly election.
For, former Minister Joaquim Alemao and son Yuri has already embraced the party a couple of months ago, with an eye of the 2022 ticket, after their admission was cleared by the party high command.
Gomes on Sunday told The Goan that talks between him and the Congress leadership are in an advanced stage, adding that he is satisfied with the discussions he had with the Congress leaders.
Elvis had two days ago called on Congress Delhi-based leader, AlkaLamba, triggering speculations that Lamba may carry forward a message from the bureaucrat-turned-politician to the Party High Command. “I had a lengthy meeting with Alka Lamba during her visit to the state last week. We discussed several matters including my entry into the Congress party”, Elvis said. Both Elvis and Lamba, sources say, share a rapport since their days in the Aam Admi Party.
To a question, Gomes pointed out that he is on the job seeking inputs with his close supporters and well wishers on the proposed plans to join the Congress party. “I am in touch with my workers and well-wishers, seeking their advice over the question of joining the Congress party”, he said.
Political observers say the bureaucrat-turned-politician will embrace the Congress party only if the indications come from the Party high command that the party would field him as candidate in Cuncolim in the 2022 election.
Sources, however, say the biggest hurdle Gomes may encounter in his move to join the Congress and contest the election on the Hand symbol is the Alemaos. For, the Joaquim-Yuri duo had already joined the Congress a couple of months ago, and had received a warm welcome from none other than Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat.
A former Minister in the Kamat-led Congress government, Joaquim had quit the Congress in 2017 after being denied the ticket and revolted against the party to enter the electoral fray as an independent.
Though the Opposition leader and his group is believed to have played their role behind the re-entry of the Alemaos in the party, a section of the party leadership is believed to be batting strongly for the entry of Gomes in the party, as part of the turf war within the Congress.
Political observers say the party leadership will have to handle the Elvis factor with tact and taking into account the ground reality. For, before and after embracing the Congress, Yuri had worked for the Congress in the Zilla Panchayat polls and lost the seat by a narrow margin.
He, however, proved a point or two in the Municipal election to the Cuncolim Civic body after his Congress-backed panel stopped the BJP juggernaut from coming to power at the Cuncolim Municipal Council.
So far, many say, Yuri Alemao may not have a challenger in the Congress party in the race for the ticket, but the game may change in the event the bureaucrat-turned-politician embraces the Congress party.
