MARGAO
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar and party general secretary Praful Patel are expected to visit Goa next week, but former PWD Minister, Churchill Alemao is unlikely to meet the NCP supremo during his two-day visit.
While Churchill has told local NCP President Jose Philip D’Souza that he would be out of station during Pawar’s visit, sources in the know said though Churchill had given an audience to NCP Goa desk in-charge Nawab Malik and Jose Philip a fortnight ago, he is still keeping his fingers crossed on his future political course and is in no haste to join the NCP or join any other outfit for the moment. That’s not all. Sources in the know said that Churchill may also want the NCP to give a positive reply on certain conditions he has placed before the local NCP leadership at the moment before embracing the party.
Speculations were rife that the former PWD minister may join the NCP in the event the Congress leadership says a firm ‘no’ to his offer to contest from Benaulim on the party banner. In fact, Churchill’s move to set September 30 as deadline to the Congress leadership, to decide on his offer to return to the party fold, had fueled speculations that he is keeping all options open.
Sources in the know said that Churchill has told NCP President Jose Philip D’Souza that he would be travelling abroad from September 20 and will have to give Pawar a miss, who is expected to come down to Goa either on September 22 or 23.
Sources, however, in the know said that the former PWD minister is still hopeful that the Congress party will positively take a call on his offer, and does not want to take any step in haste with the election less than six months away.
Jose Philip D’Souza, on the other hand, said that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and general secretary Praful Patel are expected to visit Goa on September 22-23, to take stock of the political situation ahead of the 2017 Assembly election.
He said the NCP will certainly take a decision of going alone in the ensuing poll in the event the Congress continues to cold shoulder offer of an alliance, but hastened to add that any decision on an alliance will be decided by the Congress and the NCP high commands.
“We know that the Congress has repeatedly cold shouldered talks of an alliance with other parties to defeat the BJP in the coming election. As far as the NCP is concerned, we are in favour of forging an alliance with all anti-BJP parties in the event the Congress decides to go alone,” Jose Philip said, while reiterating that the question of alliance will be decided by the NCP high command.
Replying to a question, Jose Philip said the Aam Aadmi Party is only propped by the BJP leadership to ensure that anti-BJP votes do not go to other secular parties. “People of Goa are fast realising as to who is behind the AAP’s presence in Goa. We are confident that people of Goa will see through the game plan and reject the BJP and AAP in the coming election,” he said.
