Open rebellion in Congress ranks

Panaji: The dissent within the Congress party grew louder with Mapusa Congress Minority convenor Feroz Khan and Madkai block Congress vice president Sandeep Naik coming out in support of secretary of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Durgadas Kamat, Tanvir Khatib and Raylan Cabral. The trio had written to Goa desk in charge Digvijay Singh protesting the inclusion of senior Congress leaders in the election committee for 2017.
Khan and Naik issued a subtle threat to the state Congress leadership saying that they would hold corner meetings across the state with the youth."We will start an agitation. As elections come closer there will be several options open to us. If the Congress does not go with the youth, they will definitely lose, maybe more seats than last time," Naik said.
The duo also slammed the statement made by state president Luizinho Faleiro in response to the dissent within the party. "We condemn his statement. Without members, how can you have a party? If you don't have members the party can't go forward?" Khan asked.
On Friday, Faleiro had brushed aside the rumblings within the party and had questioned the political weight of Kamat, Khatib and Cabral.
The open rebellion within the Congress ranks is clearly good news for the Bharatiya Janta Party, which only stands to gain from the revolt. Khan and Naik issued a clear warning to the Congress, saying that the party leadership should not fool themselves into believing that Goa would merely vote for the Congress because they were unhappy with the BJP. Khan and Naik have demanded that the 17-member Congress election and co-ordination committee be dissolved, and reformed with 50% representation of younger faces. "Those who have been defeated in the last elections should not be kept in the committee. Youth must be part of the committee and not a mere vote bank," Naik stated.
The election committee headed by president Luizinho Faleiro consists of MLAs Digambar Kamat, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco and Pandurang Madkaikar along with former home minister Ravi Naik, former union minister Ramakant Khalap, former state unit president Subhash Shirodkar, Moti Dessai and others.