the goan I network
MARGAO
Returning to Goa after his visit to the national capital, Reginaldo said he has asked the party High Command to find out a successor for incumbent GPCC chief Luizinho Faleiro to meet the challenges facing the party. “Let me make it clear that I am not at all in the race to take over the reigns of office of the Congress party. But, I firmly believe that we should have a new president and a new team to strengthen the Congress in the State,” he told The Goan.
“How can we have a president, who held a meeting at the Congress house and then castigated the AICC general secretary over the party’s failure to form the government. How can we have a party president, who was profusely thanking Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for sanctioning the western bypass on stilts passing through Salpem lake in Navelim,” Reginaldo questioned, while batting for a new party president, who will take on the Parrikar-led government head on and strengthen the Congress to face the new challenges, including a mid-term election.
Saying that mid-term polls may be inevitable in the current situation and knowing the past history of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Reginaldo demanded to know whether it would be wise to go in for the bye-election with the same team at the helm of party affairs in the State.
Asked to comment on reports doing the rounds in political circles that he is one of the Congress MLAs bracing up to quit the party and join hands with the BJP, Reginaldo said he has explained this aspect to the High Command, saying that he has no plans to quit the Congress party, terming the reports as just rumours floated by certain Congress leaders.
“These very same people, who are controlling the GPCC had made last ditch efforts to deny me the ticket for the Curtorim seat. These very same people also used every trick to get me defeated in the election. Yet, the people of Curtorim stood behind me to elect me with the highest margin. My victory is a slap to all Congress leaders, who worked hard to defeat me,” he asserted.
