PANAJI
Congress MLA Ravi Naik on Monday said the State unit chief Girish Chodankar and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Digambar Kamat had failed to strengthen the party at the grassroots.
Naik alleged that Kamat and Chodankar were unable to effectively take up issues against the Pramod Sawant government in the State.
Not the one to take such strong retorts lying down, GPCC president Chodankar voiced the unspoken truth which had been acknowledged within the party's folds over the last couple of months.
"We disowned Ravi Naik the day his children left Congress and joined the BJP. Like the former leader of Congress Legislative Party who went and joined the BJP, Ravi also has one foot in the Congress and one in the BJP. How can we trust such people?" Chodankar declared asserting that the party does not intend to repeat its past mistakes. He said that the Congress sees this as an opportunity to infuse fresh blood into the organisation and electoral fray.
When asked about what the Congress has in store for Ponda constituency, the GPCC president stated, "We are capable enough of putting up a completely new front in order to win back the trust. I immediately sought the permission of the high command and set out to reorganize the Ponda block. Since August, we have shortlisted several hardworking Congressmen as our potential candidates for Ponda."
Sources from within the party divulged that Ravi had a fallout with the Congress leadership in the immediate aftermath of the official entry of his sons Ritesh and Roy into the BJP on August 6. Contrary to the speculations that his entry into the BJP was with an eye on the chair of the Ponda Municipal Council, Ritesh proposed the candidature of Vishwanath alias Apoorwa Dalvi for the post. Dalvi was elected unopposed and in his address after taking over, he went on to seek the support of Ponda MLA Ravi Naik to the future initiatives of PMC.
Sources disclosed that Ravi's involvement with Congress party activities evaporated after this incident. On their part, the party leaders also stopped inviting him for meetings.
