the goan I network
MARGAO
Yuri Alemao, son of former two-time Cuncolim MLA Joaquim Alemao, is all set to embrace the Goa Forward Party headed by TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai.
Yuri, who has been heading the NCP youth wing, told the media in the presence of TCP Minister Vijai and Joaquim that he will definitely take a step forward within the next few days, saying he considered the TCP Minister as his mentor.
Leading the villagers of Chandor to the TCP Minister in a bid to resolve the state highway row dogging the heritage village over the last one year and half, Yuri said that Cuncolim has been a modern town in Goa, where a lot of development had taken place during the tenure of former Urban development minister Joaquim Alemao. “It is sad that projects which all came up during Joaquim’s tenure are not even maintained,” he added.
To a question, Yuri said that there is a huge consensus in Cuncolim in particular and Salcete in general that Vijai has taken his Fatorda Forward with Goa Forward. “After having associated with Vijai for so many years, I am confident that he will take Goa forward. Vijay has been my mentor. Definitely, I will take a step forward and will put my plan forward within a few days time,” Yuri added.
In the 2017 election, Joaquim Alemao’s plan to make a comeback in Cuncolim had come a cropper after friend-turned-foe and Congress candidate Clafacio Dias won the seat by a thin margin of around 30 votes. Sources say that Joaquim had made a determined bid to regain the Cuncolim seat in the last election in order to pave the way for son Yuri to succeed him in the constituency, which he had twice represented in 2002 and 2007.
In fact, sources pointed out that it was Yuri who had headed Joaquim’s comeback campaign in Cuncolim in the 2017 Assembly election, giving him an opportunity to make his presence felt across the
nook and corner of the constituency.
What’s interesting to note is that though the Alemao’s plan to make a comeback hit a block in Cuncolim in 2017, they have not abandoned their political plans in Cuncolim for the simple reason that Joaquim has lost the seat by a mere 30 votes. With close family friend and TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai enjoying political clout, it was but natural for Joaquim-Yuri duo to seek his help and assistance to make a comeback in Cuncolim.
This became evident when the father-son duo led the people of Cuncolim to the TCP Minister with the controversial Cuncolim bypass issue.
That Joaquim and Yuri only returned back to Sardesai with the Chandor villagers with the State highway issue only confirmed the
bonhomie between the Alemaos and the TCP Minister which may now culminate in Yuri formally joining the Goa Forward party.
