Congress deserters will not be taken back: Chella Kumar

PANAJI: As stated by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi at the Congress convention in Jaipur, the party will henceforth not allow deserters to rejoin the party, AICC secretary in-charge of Goa A Chella Kumar told the media on Wednesday.
Kumar’s declaration endorses the announcement made by local leaders of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee recently that deserters would not be allowed to rejoin the Congress.
The new policy is significant because if it is followed, former Congress strongman in Salcette, Churchill Alemao, who recently quit the party and has now filed his nomination papers for the South Goa Parliamentary seat on the Trinamool Congress ticket, will not be allowed to come back. In the past, Alemao, like several others, has walked in and out of the Congress at will.
The policy will also affect Shalom Sardinha, outgoing South Goa Congress MP Francisco Sardinha’s son, who has quit the Congress and is contesting the South Goa seat as an independent. Kumar admitted that Dabolim Congress MLA Mauvin Godinho had a difference of opinion, but stressed that Godinho is a Congressman who will work for the party.
Asked what made the party ditch Francisco Sardinha and opt for Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco at the last minute, Kumar said all decisions were taken by the Congress central election committee and Reginald was chosen because he had a right mix of youth and experience.