PANAJI
If politics were a game of roulette and the two players hovering around the table were the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, the white ball spinning in the glitzy, numbered wheelbase, bouncing hesitantly over the numbered pockets, could well be called Luizinho Faleiro.
Over the last few days, the former Chief Minister has spun the political imagination in Goa over what course he is likely to adopt in the coming days.
Would he join the Trinamool Congress and take up a fresh challenge in his political career at 70? Or would his sulk, help him negotiate more legroom in the Congress party -- whose reins he recently held -- which appears to have marched him to the margins of late.
Faleiro's fate appears to be defined by the ongoing power wrangle between party leaders loyal to Sonia Gandhi, who defined the party's past decades and the party's future Rahul Gandhi, who has backed state president Girish Chodankar and even baulked at efforts made by veteran state Congress leaders to oust the latter.
Realistically, the Luizinho Faleiro bogey is all that the TMC has had to mutter, to catch popular attention in the politically hyperactive state.
While the I-PAC, a political lobbying outfit run by ace strategist Prashant Kishor, has been sounding the political mood in Goa over the last few weeks, it took the mere mention of Faleiro's name in the TMC's gameplan, which has triggered attention towards West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's plans for Goa.
The TMC had rolled the dice in Goa twice before this. In 2012, when it roped in the eternal renegade ex-CM Dr Wilfred de Souza to lead the outfit and in 2014, when it offered a Lok Sabha ticket to another ex CM Churchill Alemao. Both attempts failed miserably.
With just some months to go for the 2022 polls, the West Bengal-based party's latest foray still may not yield much, but as noted writer and former Congress general secretary, N Shjivdas -- who was one of the early lot of potential recruits tapped by the TMC suggested earlier this week -- the 2022 polls in five states, could be the stepping stone to Banerjee's grander plans.
"Now they are coming with full preparation. They were not serious that time (2012 assembly polls). Now they are very serious. They are introducing themselves in Goa as a national party. Their aim is the 2024 elections," Shivdas said.
The Congress' anxiety about the sheer presence of TMC in Goa ahead of the polls is a real one, irrespective of whether Faleiro stays and moves.
With AAP already threatening to nibble away at its minority base and grab votes of those who are disenchanted with the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant-led government, the emergence of TMC could spell a further split in its potential vote pie. Not to mention that the Goa Forward and the NCP too threaten to cut into the same pie, or at least prey on its crumbs.
Congress's national media panelist Trajano D'Mello however begs to disagree.
"I don't believe it (TMC's re-entry) will make any dent, for the simple reason that since the Congress has very clearly in Bengal refused to put up a candidate against (Mamata) didi. They are becoming our natural ally and her relationship with the Gandhi family is very close," D'Mello said, adding that politically both the parties may come closer to each other, rather than take antagonistic positions.
For the TMC, Faleiro's stature however appears to be a big enough draw to woo him, especially with a Rajya Sabha berth due for West Bengal, for which polls are expected to be held on October 4. The fact that Faleiro had played 'big brother' for the Congress, shepherding its interests in the North Eastern sister states, could also help the Banerjee-led party build its strength in the far eastern region.
For now, Faleiro has played his card, but it lies face down on the table.
While he appears to have slipped into a reclusive move, his aides Agnelo Fernandes and Yatish Naik, among others, have come on record to crib about how their senior leader was humiliated by "some top office bearers".
Even as Chodankar and leader of opposition Digambar Kamat have been summoned to the national capital amid the Faleiro row, Congress spokesperson Tulio D'Souza claims that Faleiro has never been insulted by the party, while insisting that both the top state leaders were in Delhi to attend "meetings with the High Command".
Meanwhile, the ball continues to bounce around the political roulette table, keeping both the TMC and the Congress guessing. When is it likely to find a pocket? In all likelihood, much before the Rajya Sabha polls on October 4.
