MARGAO
In an interesting development, the scheduled Congress block level meetings of Benaulim, Vasco and Dabolim did not take place on day one of the block level exercise on Friday conducted by the principal Opposition party to recommend names of prospective candidates for the 2022 Assembly polls.
And, if sources are to be believed, the party may not have the meeting of Fatorda block, which is scheduled on Saturday.
While senior officials were quick to point out that the scheduled meetings at Benaulim, Vasco and Dabolim have only been postponed, no leader was available to comment and shed light when the block meetings will take place, more so when the block level exercise ends on Saturday.
It’s a sheer coincidence that all the three blocks where the meetings could not take place are constituencies where like-minded parties have staked claim for the seats. Though the meeting of the Fatorda block is scheduled on Saturday, sources in the know said the meeting may also be postponed.
Flamboyant Mickky Pacheco, who has disclosed plans to make a political comeback from Benaulim on the Congress banner, seemed unaware of the ongoing Congress exercise and the postponement of the Benaulim block meeting. In fact, he was frantically trying to find out from party leaders why the Benaulim block meeting, which was scheduled to take place on Friday and was expected to be attended by GPCC senior vice-president M K Sheikh and other observers, was postponed.
Late evening, Mickky was reassured by one of the Congress panel members that the postponed meetings will now be held at a later date. In fact, Mickky said that party leader M K Sheikh has categorically told him that the postponed meeting of certain blocks will be held at a later date.
Questions, however, have been raised whether the postponed meetings will take place before the South Goa district Committee meets to discuss and deliberate on the names recommended by the blocks.
GPCC chief Girish Chodankar, when contacted to shed light on the postponement of the block meetings at Vasco, Dabolim and Benaulim, said he has no idea about the change in the schedule. He also feigned ignorance whether the Fatorda block meeting scheduled on Saturday will be postponed or not.
No leader was ready to come on record to explain why the Benaulim block committee meeting was postponed or skipped by the panel.
