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Congress replaces Goa unit chief, revamps organisation

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panjim

A tea party in the national capital two weeks ago sent political tremors through the country. Now, a luncheon meeting -- again in Delhi -- has shaken up the tiny Western Indian state of Goa.

All-India Congress Committee general secretary Madhavrao Scindia, who is in charge of the Goa desk, called all top Congress politicians from the state to Delhi on 7 April to discuss the party's election strategy. But it turned out to be a meeting to announce party president Sonia Gandhi's selection strategy.

Just before the politicians assembled at the dining table, Scindia took Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Shantaram Naik aside and politely told him that former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro would replace him.

After the lunch, Scindia formally announced Faleiro's appointment. He also announced that another former chief minister, Pratapsing Rane, had been appointed president of the Pradesh Election Committee.

Churchill Alemao, also a former chief minister and a man who had once been detained under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, was named convenor of the PEC. A fourth former chief minister, Ravi Naik, now a member of Parliament, was made head of the state election campaign while Francisco Sardinha, MP, became its convenor.

While nobody knows what all these posts mean, senior Goan politicians admit that the GPCC leader was changed to woo Christian voters who account for 30 per cent of the state's electorate.

The Faleiro camp, however, does not seem to be too happy because the post of PEC president, which usually goes to the PCC president, has been awarded to Rane, a relative of Scindia. It is thus unclear who will have the bigger say in deciding candidates for the assembly election, the PEC chief or the PCC boss.

Meanwhile, local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders claim credit for the sudden changes in the Congress. They claim that fear of the majority Hindu vote getting polarised around the right-wing party has forced the Congress president to work out this "crisis management programme".

A senior Congress politician admitted as much when he said the high command ought to have revamped the party in such a way as to also retain its Hindu supporters.

The changes have come as a surprise because until last month the high command had rejected repeated requests by the Faleiro and Alemao groups as well as both MPs for a change in the GPCC leadership and backed Naik, who was also supported by Rane.

Following this, Naik readmitted practically every Congress rebel in the state, all of whom are now vying for party tickets. Total confusion reigns in the party now, and it is almost certain that every constituency will see at least one rebel against the official Congress nominee.

Meanwhile, a tug of war is on within the party on the issue of readmitting yet another former chief minister, Wilfred de Souza, who had toppled Rane and split the party to form a coalition with the opposition Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. De Souza, however, has denied the reports, and said he would go ahead with his plan to form a front of local parties.

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