the goan I network
MARGAO
Who will succeed Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Shantaram Naik -- a young Turk or a party veteran?
The Congress leadership comprising of the Rahul-Sonia Gandhi duo will have to indeed take a call whether to settle for a young Turk or a seasoned MLA as a successor to incumbent Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Chief Shantaram Naik.
Amongst the probable names of young Turks doing the rounds in Congress circles is AICC general secretary Girish Chodankar, Yatish Naik, besides three-time Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco. Amongst the Congress veterans whose names have propped up in party circles as probable candidates, include former chief minister, Digambar Kamat and Ravi Naik.
Sources in the Congress say the leadership led by Rahul-Sonia duo will be called upon to take into account a host of aspects and answer many a question before handpicking Shantaram Naik’s successor.
With incumbent GPCC President Shantaram putting in his papers in response to Rahul Gandhi’s call for the old guard to make way for young leaders, questions are being asked in Congress circles whether the party high command would settle for party veterans such as Ravi Naik and Digambar Kamat, both of whom possess organisational skills to take the party to a new high.
Again, it remains to be seen whether the party leadership will stick to the existing arrangement wherein both the post of CLP and GPCC are headed by leaders belonging to the majority community, throwing up a question whether the leadership will settle for a leader from the minority to head the party organisation.
Questions are also doing the rounds whether the party leadership will follow the one man, one post norm, which may seal the fate of the party MLAs including Ravi, Digambar and Reginaldo. In the event of the party leadership goes by the one man, one post norm, sources said the succession battle may zero down between AICC secretary Girish Chodankar and Yatish Naik, who sources said have the backing of a couple of Congress Legislative Party (CLP) members.
On the other hand, AICC Secretary, Girish Chodankar, who is being perceived as belonging to the Rahul brigade in Delhi, had emerged as the front runner for the GPCC Chief’s post after the Congress’ organisational elections in October last. However, Chodankar’s biggest drawback, sources said, has been his inability to muster enough support from the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) for his candidature till date. A member of the Bhandari samaj, Girish may enjoy the caste advantage in the scheme of things over his rivals, but sources said former Chief Minister Ravi Naik will fit the bill if the party prefers to nominate a candidate for the top slot from the Bhandari caste.
Incidentally, while doubts are cast in Congress circles whether former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat is keen to take over the GPCC mantle, given that he is perceived as one of the probable Chief Ministerial candidate, three-time Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco had shown his willingness on more than one occasion to take over the party reigns, especially when former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro presided
