the goan I network
MARGAO
The Velim unit of the Aam Aadmi Party was hit by rebellion on Tuesday as a group of volunteers defied the decision of the party to support an independent candidate and instead came out in favour of Congress candidate Julio Fernandes.
AAP volunteer Gerson Gomes along with some of his colleagues made his presence felt at the door-to-door campaigning of Congress candidate Julio Fernandes at Chinchinim on Tuesday.
He offered his support to Julio Fernandes in the presence of Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco and Velim Sarpanch Savio D’Silva. “I am standing today here to support Julio not as an AAP volunteer, but as a voter of Velim constituency. I have done so since the decision of AAP to support an independent candidate is not acceptable to majority of the volunteers”, he said.
Incidentally, Cruz Silva, who had contested on the AAP banner from Velim in the 2017 Assembly election is believed to have maintained a neutral stance in the ensuing election, neither supporting the decision of the party leadership to support an independent candidate nor lending his support to any candidate.
Resentment has been brewing in the Velim unit of AAP since the party could not field a candidate for the ZP poll. Differences later came to the fore when a section of AAP volunteers led by Gerson Gomes questioned the decision of the party to support an independent candidate without checking the background.
Incidentally, AAP state Convenor Elvis Gomes, however, has suspected sabotage on the part of some workers that prevented the party from fielding a candidate on the party banner.
