The Congress in Goa isn’t exactly in the pink of health.
Although the local unit launched its campaign with
an impressive rally in the South, a vertical split in the
party, with just three months to go before polls are
held, is having an adverse impact on the ground. A
large segment of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) is not on
the same page as the party organization led by Luizinho Faleiro.
A meeting held by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi
in New Delhi to patch things up and discuss the possibility of
an alliance did not go very well. Vishwajit Rane, who is reportedly
toying with the idea of leaving the Congress and forming
a political party of his own, stayed away from the meet.
Jennifer Monserrate did not attend while Pandurang Madkaikar,
who has received offers from the MGP and BJP, also stayed
away from the meeting. The case of Mauvin Godinho donning
saffron colours while still in the Congress has been well documented.
So of the eight members in the CLP, only four attended.
Of these, Aleixo Reginaldo is a
critic of the GPCC president and is
rooting for new faces and an alliance,
and Babu Kavlekar has only
one foot in the party. The only two
CLP members who appear to be
firmly in the party are Pratapsing
Rane and Digambar Kamat.
This is certainly not a happy picture
for the Congress. Although the
party prepared an impressive chargesheet against the government,
it has not been able to create the impression that it
wants to win the next elections or is capable of taking on the
BJP-MGP combine. The general perception among the voters
is that the opposition is fragmented and too weak to put up
a fight. At present, the opposition space is being occupied by
Goa Forward, Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress and a sprinkling
of independent candidates. Among them, the Congress is the
clear leader, but its inability to put together a coalition is taking
its toll. On the contrary, it has sent a very clear message
that it wants to go it alone. News trickling from the Delhi meeting
chaired by Rahul Gandhi gives one the impression that the
plan of forming a grand alliance is still on the backburner.
The larger problem facing the Congress is news that more than
half the members in the CLP might desert the party in a bid to
be on the winning side post 2017. It is becoming increasingly
clear that even the elected Congress MLAs have written off the
party as a winner. When people who are capable of winning
an election and have proved their mettle at the polls start leaving
the ship, the impression that voters get is of a sinking ship.
Grand alliance apart, the party must reach out to the disgruntled
MLAs and bridge the trust gap before it is too late. The
Congress must realise that there is a Goa, and a much larger
one, that lies beyond Salcete.
