MARGAO
Asserting that his demand for a revamp of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee with young and vibrant team does not amount to indiscipline, three-time Curtorim Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco on Saturday made it clear that even Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar could not silence him and scoffed at threats from the party leadership that those who do not believe in discipline may not have a place in the party.
“Those who think that I will be gagged by raising the bogey of indiscipline will be sadly mistaken. Even Parrikar could not gag me when I was the lone Congress MLA post-2012 Assembly election to take on the BJP-led government,” Reginaldo told The Goan.
Making it clear that he will not be scared into submission, he dared the local party leadership to initiate disciplinary action against him.
Asked to explain his demand for the revamp of the GPCC and appointment of a new team to head the party organisation, Reginaldo said the party should now gear up to face mid-term election with instability inherent in the coalition dispensation. “With the present leadership having failed to cobble up the numbers to form the government and with MLAs moving out of the party, I think the time has come to hand over the GPCC leadership to the new and vibrant team,” he said.
Saying that certain leaders in the party are getting jittery over his demand to revamp the organisation, the Curtorim MLA said no amount of threats will stop him from speaking out his mind on issues affecting the party. “I was not the MLA who has spoken against AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh nor I am the MLA who has profusely thanked Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for sanctioning any project in my constituency,” he said.
Asked whether his demand for a revamp of the GPCC is an attempt by him to rake up issues before quitting the party, Reginaldo asserted that he has no plan to leave the Congress party, saying he is a loyal soldier of the party. “Congress Legislature Party leader Babu Kavlekar has given me the clean chit by saying that Reginaldo will be the last person to leave the Congress party,” he said.
Reginaldo asserted that he would never ditch his voters, who have elected him for the third successive time despite the fact that Congress leaders within Curtorim and outside had worked overtime to defeat him in the just concluded election.
