The Francisco 'Mickky' Pacheco-Lyndon Monteiro political friendship has fallen apart with Nuvem MLA’s man Friday, who was at the centre of all his strategies, sticking to his guns of not merging the Goa Vikas Party with United Goans Democratic Party.
Mickky had served an ultimatum to the GVP leadership to merge the party with UGDP, sending out a clear message that if that cannot be possible, then he will be forced to move out of the party. However, there is a twist to the tale as UGDP itself is split on supporting the Nuvem MLA in his quest for retaining the seat. Party general secretary Anacleto Viegas is ready to welcome Mickky with open arms, but on the flip side, party mentor and Vice-President Radharao Gracias has refused to support the proposal and is vouching for NCP candidate Vincent Rodrigues. Radharao’s grouse against Mickky is that Nuvem has not seen much progress since he took over the reins. He goes on to say that the MLA supported BJP in the Lok Sabha poll despite his fervent appeal not to do so.
Radharao was instrumental in introducing Mickky to politics and to UGDP in the 2002 assembly elections for Benaulim constituency. Flamboyant but novice, Mickky turned out to be a giant-killer by uprooting Varca strongman Churchill Alemao. It was from then the Mickky-Lyndon political friendship took shape, with the latter rising from being his personal assistant to chief strategist.
Mickky’s directive asking Lyndon to quit when he was jailed is not justified as the MLA appears to be directly linking his arrest to the ruling dispensation. Moreover, the BJP tag which Mickky is talking about existed right from the time the Goa Vikas Party extended its support to the BJP and was in full flow when the Nuvem MLA was singing praises and defending policies and decisions of the government. And how does the saffron tag disappear if GVP merges with UGDP?
With his wife Viola Pacheco quitting the GVP, the intentions are very clear. Although, the Nuvem MLA is faced with a tricky situation of stitching together both the factions within the UGDP, it would not mean much in the end. Mickky’s supporter base in driven by the individual himself and not by the party which he stands with. This was evident when he contested on a lesser-known GVP and managed to bulldoze long-time winner and Congress veteran Aleixo Sequeira by a whopping margin. The win reflected Mickky’s charisma with the populace more than the party presence.
Mickky may not get a warm welcome in UGDP like in 2002, however his entry will also signal a revival of the party which has been on the wane in recent years. With elections likely to be scheduled in and around February, what will be keenly watched is how the Nuvem MLA stitches together a partnership with the UGDP and how much support he garners.
