the goan I network
MARGAO
Once bitten, twice shy, so goes the saying. With political opponents successfully using ‘family raj’ to tarnish Alemaos’ image in the 2012 Assembly elections, former Minister Joaquim Alemao will finally hand over the baton to son Yuri during the weekend as he has decided to take a
back seat in electoral politics after a long stint spanning over a decade.
While Yuri will embrace the Goa Forward Party headed by long-time family friend and TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai, Joaquim will concentrate on social work and lend a helping hand to his son as the Alemaos are looking forward to hold fort in Cuncolim
once again.
“Only my son Yuri will join GFP and will contest from Cuncolim. You know how people made political capital out of family raj six years when I and Yuri had contested the 2012 election from Cuncolim and Sanguem Assembly constituencies respectively,” an overcautious Joaquim told The Goan on Wednesday.
The former two-time Cuncolim MLA and Urban Development Minister seem to have not forgotten how the Congress denied him the ticket in the 2017 Assembly election. “I have been a loyal Congress soldier, but the party denied me the ticket. I was an UGDP MLA in the late 90s and joined the Congress in the dead of the night to strengthen the Congress, but my contribution was sadly forgotten. How can I stay in this party?” Joaquim asked, while justifying son Yuri’s decision to embrace the regional party on Sunday.
Asked why Yuri has preferred to join GFP when he had contested the 2017 election as an independent despite the presence of Goa Forward, Joaquim replied, “The Congress kept on promising me that I would be the party candidate till the last, before denying me the ticket. It was too late to contest as Goa Forward Party candidate.”
On a question what had prompted son Yuri to join GFP when he had other options at his disposal, Joaquim shot back, “GF suprmeo is my personal friend. I am confident that he will do justice to Cuncolim. He has promised to usher in Cuncolim’s development. Already, Vijai has de-notified the Chandor SH8 highway and I am confident that the Cuncolim bypass will be realigned as per the wishes of the people.”
The former Urban Development Minister does not think that Goa Forward’s alliance with the BJP will affect Yuri in Cuncolim.
“During the series of meetings held across Cuncolim, I have seen mostly youth expressing their support to Yuri. I have not come across anyone questioning his decision to embrace the Goa Forward. The youth want jobs and the people are looking forward to development,” he said.
To a query how son Yuri will handle the “outsider” tag he had to grapple with every election in Cuncolim since 2002, Alemao shot back, “People of Cuncolim had elected me twice in 2002 and again in 2007. This goes on to show that the outsider tag had no effect on the people. I could not make a comeback in Cuncolim in the 2012 and 2017 elections for different reasons. In 2012, I had to encounter a strong anti-Congress wave. Besides, people accused us for promoting family raj. In 2017, there was a wave in favour of the Congress, but I was contesting as an independent. Despite that, I just missed winning by just a couple of votes. This only goes on to show that I have a strong voter base in Cuncolim”.
