MARGAO
In a twist to the Pratima Coutinho episode in the Congress, Navelim Congress MLA Luizinho Faleiro has said that party leaders, who had given the ticket to Pratima Coutinho to contest the Navelim by-poll, need to cite the reasons behind nominating her in Navelim and how these leaders had made her to transfer her name from the electoral rolls in Margao to Navelim after the elections were declared.
That’s not all. Faleiro, who was charged by Pratima for not working hard in support of her candidature, further asserted there was a consensus amongst Congressmen in Navelim that the party should field the widow of then party candidate late Babush Coelho for the Navelim by-poll.
Saying that he does not want to comment on what has happened in the Navelim by-poll being a disciplined and loyal soldier of the party, Faleiro said all questions relating to Pratima’s candidature should be addressed to the party leaders since he had stopped interfering in the party organization since he had quit the GPCC post in 2017.
On Pratima’s candidature, Faleiro was point blank in saying he did not ask anybody to contest the Navelim ZP by-poll. “In fact, when we were consulting the sarpanchas and congressmen on the candidate for the by-poll, there was a consensus that the ticket should be given to the widow of Babush Coleho. Please don’t ask me who has given the ticket to Pratima and what was the reason to nominate and how they were made to take the electoral roll from Margao to Navelim after the elections were declared. You ask the people who had asked her to contest the election”, he asserted.
Faleiro further said that he had told the leadership in Goa and in Delhi to give the ticket to the widow of Babush Coelho since there’s a consensus in her favour and that she would have benefit by the sympathy vote.
When the media drew his attention to Pratima’s charge that little effort from the Navelim MLA would have brought victory for the Congress in the by-poll, Faleiro said he had told Pratima that the Congress leadership has told him to go to Kerala and help the party. “After I returned from Kerala, I had addressed a couple of meetings in Navelim and Dramapur and Telaulim. If you go through the result, it is clear that Independent candidate’s Cipru Cardozo’s margin has come down while other political parties, which hae come in the fray have taken the votes”, he said, adding “I don’t know who had asked Pratima to take her name from Margao electoral rolls to Navelim.
Digambar: Can't
stop anyone
from leaving
MARGAO: No one can stop anyone from leaving the party, said Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat while downplaying the Pratima episode, saying her tenure had ended and that the party leadership has been on the job to appoint a new Mahila Congress president.
Asked to comment on Pratima’s decision to quit the Congress and embrace the Aam Admi Party, Kamat said “Pratima’s tenure as Mahila Congress Chief had ended. Now that she has quit, the party has appointed Beena Naik as the new Mahila Chief”.
People will decide whether Pratima’s decision will affect the party, he said.
Pratima chose to feed
political greed: Girish
PANAJI: Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar has accused former Goa Mahila Congress chief Pratima Coutinho of feeding her political greed instead of safeguarding the party’s interest. He further warned that her exit from the party and her subsequent decision to join the Aam Aadmi Party would eventually spell political suicide for her.
Chodankar insisted that Coutinho did not consult any office bearer of the party before announcing her decision. He stated, “I was asked many times to contest elections and I did it for the sake of the party. Although I lost I do not repent, the need of the party should always come first.”
Meanwhile, former journalist Mahadev Khandekar from Kudne-Sakhali joined the Congress on Saturday strengthening the party’s base in Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s constituency.
