GULF-GOANS e-NEWSLETTER (since 1994)
DIVIDED THEY STAND! Cong, Save Goa Front in cold war HERALD REPORTER/MARGAO, MARCH 9 This should certainly raise eyebrows in the Congress camp, especially in its stronghold Salcete, as former Save Goa Front leaders have threatened to keep alive their ideology if the Congress denies Valanka the Lok Sabha ticket. Former Save Goa Front supremo and Public Works Department Minister Churchill Alemao may time and again reiterate that he had merged his regional outfit into the Congress lock, stock and barrel. But, hold on. While it’s a year since Churchill along with Curtorim legislator Reginaldo Lourenco embraced the Congress after a bitter electoral battle with the national party, former SGF workers continue to distance themselves from the Congress or are seen as rivals to the incumbent Congress MLAs and ministers. This situation is not restricted to one or two constituencies, but is felt across Salcete where the SGF had a presence before Alemao jumped into the Congress bandwagon. Take the case of Churchill’s Navelim constituency. The Navelim Congress block led by Conceissao Peixote is stuffed by Luizinho Faleiro’s aides and Alemao has publicly stated he cannot go on well with the Congress block and is ostensibly running the show with his own band of supporters. Velim is another case in point. Minister for Water Resources Filipe Neri Rodrigues is aware that the so-called SGF’s merger has not benefited him or the Congress in any manner. On the contrary, Rodrigues knows for sure that the people who opposed him in the Assembly polls continue to be his rivals, notwithstanding Alemao’s decision to embrace the Congress. The bitter tug-of-war between Lourenco and his bete noire MP Francisco Sardinha continues unabated in the fertile plains of Curtorim constituency. Lourenco even went to the extent of publicly opposing Sardinha’s candidature for South Goa Lok Sabha constituency after the senior Congress leader tried to belittle him for tabling a private member’s bill to legalise dhirios.(bullfights) The SGF’s presence in Chief Minister Digambar Kamat’s constituency may had been restricted to some pockets. But, the two prominent faces of SGF – former Margao municipal chairpersons Johnson Fernandes and Ganashyam Shirodkar – are in constant war with the Congress-backed Margao Municipal Council. In Loutolim represented by Power Minister, Alexio Sequeira, SGF candidate Remy Fernandes is still active in the constituency. Remy was one of the Zilla members, who publicly pitched in for Churchill’s daughter Valanka for South Goa against the other candidates Sardinha and Aleixo Sequeira. Former SGF members and Alemao’s supporters are engaged in a battle with Tourism Minister Mickey Pacheco in Benaulim. Says former SGF spokesman, advocate Mike Mehta: “Churchill and Reginaldo along with others might have joined the Congress. But the movement espoused by the party still continues. And, this movement will continue. We will not hesitate to get back to the Congress if the party stabs us in the back”. www.oheraldo.in Goa World Goa Mog Goa SuRaj Super Goa (em Português) TGF Writers' Sketchpad www.colaco.net www.goa-world. .com/goa/ music/ - The Online Music Station for KONKANI Mahableshwar http://www.mahables hwar.com St. Mary's School - Mt Abu, Rajasthan India http://www.abusms. com http://www.goa-dc.com/flvvid/ikonkani.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTduCJkQNiQ GOA MAG ONLINE http://www.goamag.net http://mumbaihangout.org/radio/ Too late is tomorrow's life; live for today. ~Martial~
