Older party members being sidelined, say Luizinho loyalists

Panaji: Just as Congress was beginning to find its feet and get into the election groove, the simmering infighting between the old guard and the young turks has once again spilled out into the open, threatening to derail the ongoing process to rebuild the party.

On Friday, Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro’s close aides came out in open dissent against the state’s Congress leadership, accusing them of inducting new members who do not share the party’s ideology.

Party general secretary Vijai Pai and secretary Mario Pinto said that senior MLAs such as Faleiro, Pratapsingh Rane and Ravi Naik have been sidelined and Congress supporters who have been members for 20 to 30 years have been left out of the decision-making process.

Their outburst came just a day after two other Faleiro loyalists, former MLA Agnel Fernandes and general secretary Yatish Naik, voiced similar complaints. Though Congress functionaries refused to take names, their grievance seemed clearly against state party president Girish Chodankar and opposition leader Digambar Kamat.

“I have been in Congress for 28 years, but today for the first time, I don’t see direction in the party. Those who don’t win elections get the big posts and those who win are sidelined,” Pai said.

Chodankar contested and lost the Panaji bypolls in 2017 and the 2019 Lok Sabha election in North Goa. Under his watch, Congress had a dismal outing in the zilla panchayat elections too.

Though Chodankar has the backing of Rahul Gandhi and Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao, some senior functionaries, especially MLAs, are not happy with him.

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“It pains me to see that our party, which had good prospects, is sliding down. The party should take Rane and Faleiro into confidence. In Cumbarjua, there are so many who have joined and all of them are saying that they are the candidate. The senior leaders have been sidelined at the local level,” Pinto said.

When asked if they would leave Congress, the duo said the “question does not arise.” “I am a loyal Congressman,” Pai said. The two said that they have no problem with the party inducting new members. “We have no problem with young faces joining Congress, but they must work for the party for at least five years and accept the party ideology,” Pinto, a ticket aspirant for Cumbarjua seat, said.