PANAJI
With an eye on the upcoming Goa Assembly polls, Goa Congress appears to have set the wheels in motion in a bid to bolster its presence especially in the constituencies represented by MLAs who were elected on the Congress ticket and have since taken the leap into the BJP.
Path has been cleared for the re-entry of former Congress MLA Joaquim Alemao and his son Yuri Alemao to join the party.
Confirming the development, in-charge of Goa Congress Dinesh Gundu on Friday tweeted, “Congress President Smt Sonia Gandhi has approved former minister Shri Joaquim Alemao and Shri Yuri Alemao joining @INCIndia. I welcome them to our party and hope they will play a big role in strengthening @INCGoa in the days to come.”
Joaquim was elected to the Goa Legislative Assembly twice from Cuncolim constituency, in 2002 and in 2007 and was the Urban Development Minister during one of the terms. Upset over being denied a ticket to contest from the constituency despite being a sitting MLA, Joaquim had contested as an independent candidate in 2017 only to lose to the then Congress candidate, Clafacio Dias. Dias has since jumped the ship to join the ruling BJP.
On the other hand, his son Yuri Alemao is a former member of the Goa Forward Party.
