Countdown begins for Goa PCC elections

Friday, May 23 1997

Countdown begins for Goa PCC elections

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

PANAJI, May 22: Former Union Minister Eduardo Faleiro, former chief minister Ravi Naik, former minister Fransisco Sardinha, ex-MP and former Pradesh Congress president Shantaram Naik and president of the dissolved Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Nirmala Sawant have emerged front-runners in the race for the Pradesh Congress president's post in the organisational elections scheduled for June 9.

Lobbying for the top post has become intense since the first phase of the poll which ended on Wednesday . The poll process for majority of block committees and PCC has been completed. The Pradesh Returning Officer Sudha Joshi has, however, ordered repoll in two places which faced some problems.

The Pradesh Congress organisation in Goa has as many factions as there are leaders. So it is difficult to know who may be backing whom for the top post. Last week's Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting ended without any consensus on the final choice of the party.

A noteworthy feature of the polls is that with the exception of one or two places, PCC members to most of the 40 Assembly constituencies have been elected unopposed.

Party sources revealed that most ministers have been elected to the PCC from their respective constituencies. With elections drawing near, the activity within the party at the level of its top leaders is heightened. However, the outgoing president Nirmala Sawant and former PCC chief Shantaram Naik are the only two persons who have so far publicly announced their intention to be in the race for the PCC chief's post.

Naik has been returned to the PCC unopposed from the Cuncolim block. Sawant is not elected to PCC but becomes a member by virtue of being a former PCC chief as per the party constitution.

One report suggests that some group within the party is trying to press Fransisco Sardinha's candidature on the plea that in future polls the Congress might have to concentrate more on South Goa to effectively deal with the challenge from Churchil Alemao's United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP). It may be recalled that the rise of UGDP in South Goa was principally responsible for the defeat of five-time MP and former union minister Eduardo Faleiro in the last Lok Sabha polls from South Goa.