the goan I network
MARGAO
Unlike March 12, 2017, the task of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Goa desk, A Chellakumar should be comparatively easy this time round to elect a new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader.
For, unlike 2017 when the Congress had won 17 seats, the party’s strength has now come down to just five seats, with former Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro requesting Chellakumar to keep him out of the process and Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco saying that he would not shirk the responsibility if asked by the party leadership to take up the CLP post.
The AICC general secretary had consultations with all the five MLAs, including Pratapsing Rane, Ravi Naik, Luizinho Faleiro, Digambar Kamat and Reginaldo Lourenco on the question of appointing a new CLP leader with the CLP leader Babu Kavlekar leading a 10-member group of Congress MLAs to the BJP.
Faleiro told The Goan that the AICC general secretary had met him at his residence on Thursday as part of the consultations to appoint a new CLP leader ahead of the ensuing Assembly session. “I told Chellakumar that since the Assembly session is coming close, all the remaining four MLAs should be consulted before taking a decision. I also requested him to keep me out of the process and take a decision to put up an united front,” Faleiro added.
The former Chief Minister reminded that he had declined to take up the CLP post last time round even after majority of the MLAs had favoured him to lead the party in the Legislative Assembly in protest over the delay by the party leadership in forming the Congress-led government.
In the meantime, three-time Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco has said that if he is being given the responsibility to lead the party in the Assembly, he will not shirk the responsibility. “In Congress party, you don’t get something if you ask. But, if the party wants to give, I will take. And, I want to assure that if given the responsibility, I will put in work like no one had done in the past,” he added.
Thursday had seen former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat meeting Chellakumar at a city-based hotel as part of the consultative process. After the meeting with the AICC general secretary, Kamat had only said that he has not given any thought to the idea of leading the Congress in the Legislative Assembly.
Sources in the know said the AICC general secretary has reportedly left the State after consulting with the leaders on the political situation and will brief the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in Delhi before appointing a new CLP leader.
