Saying that charity begins at home, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) spokesman Reginaldo Lourenco on Saturday opined that Goa Pradesh Congress party (GPCC) chief Luizinho Faleiro should begin from his Navelim constituency if he really intends to give 50 per cent tickets to new and fresh faces in the Congress.
Commenting on Faleiro’s statement on giving tickets to new faces in the 2017 Assembly elections, Reginaldo said, “I welcome Faleiro’s statement from the bottom of my heart. This is probably the best decision that the party president has taken since taking over the reigns a year ago. But, I feel that charity should begin from home. He should start from his Navelim constituency. I have nothing against Faleiro personally. He should not treat me as his enemy for saying this.”
The two-time Congress MLA further said that Faleiro should in the future avoid making statements on nominating new faces in the Assembly election in the presence of aging party leaders, to stop sending wrong signals to the people of Goa. “The GPCC chief made a statement on giving tickets to new faces but, he made it in the presence of party leaders, who have been around for years now,” he said.
Replying to a question, Reginaldo said the people of Goa are ready and willing to vote Congress back to power, provided that senior party leaders makes way for the younger lot to contest the coming election. “People on the ground, irrespective of religion, caste and creed is ready and willing to welcome the Congress back again. But, our senior leaders should see the writing on the wall and make way for the young faces in 2017 election,” he said, adding that the time has now come for the Congress leadership to hand over the baton to the younger lot ahead of the Assembly election.
Speaking to the media on Friday, the GPCC President had expressed his intentions to ensure that at least 50 per cent of the party tickets for the upcoming Assembly polls are distributed among young and fresh faces, going to the extent of saying that Congress has many young leaders, who are under the age of 35 years.
