Goa Chief Minister wooing rebel MLAs

PANAJI, NOV 20: With the Congress party in Goa split vertically, Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro is trying to woo at least three legislat...

PANAJI, NOV 20: With the Congress party in Goa split vertically, Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro is trying to woo at least three legislators from the 11 MLAs who have aligned with the leader of the breakaway group, Fransisco Sardinha. The attempts to break the dissident group are likely to gain momentum on Sunday when Tourism Minister Churchill Alemao returns after cutting short his visit to London.

Meanwhile, hectic efforts to bring about a reconciliation with the breakaway group is on with party leaders in New Delhi contacting the rebels. Sardinha who himself confirmed the news however did not divulge details.

However, sources close to him indicated that any deal with Congress leadership would hinge on the removal of Luizinho Faleiro as chief minister. “Faleiro has ignored Congress loyalists while new-comers like Suresh Parulekar were given important portfolios,” Sardinha said.

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Ever since his government came to power in June, Faleiro had increased the strength of the Congress in the Assembly bysplitting rival parties like the United Goans Democratic Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak party. But he reacted to the split by expelling five of the eleven legislators: Sardinha, Dayanand Narvekar, Somnath Zuwarkar, Alexio Sequiera and Subash Shirodkar.

The letter issued to them dated November 18, a day before the split, attributed the expulsion to anti-party activities. Sardinha, however, reacted to the expulsion by stating that Faleiro was adopting a divide and rule approach towards the dissidents. “Why is Faleiro expelling only five of us when 11 of the MLAs did not work for Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha elections,” Sardinha questioned.

He, however, admitted that the dissidents were unable to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi before the split. “The party leaders thought Faleiro was a good chief minister….we couldn’t meet Sonia Gandhi and this (the split) was easier,” Sardinha said.

Meanwhile, outgoing governor Lt Gen (retd) JFR Jacob has asked Faleiro to seek a trust vote onNovember 24. Jacob who administered the state during the first round of political turmoil earlier this year has been transferred to Punjab. His replacement, Mohammed Fazal, will take over shortly from him.