Cong retains Girish as GPCC president

Luizinho Faleiro appointed chairperson of election coordination committee

Panaji: The Congress high command has retained Girish Chodankar as the president of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) despite major opposition from a section of senior local leaders.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal, in a press communiqué issued, stated that veteran Congress leader Aleixo Sequeira has been appointed as the working president of GPCC to assist Chodankar, while Digambar Kamat has also been retained as the leader of the Congress legislature party.

It is pertinent to note that Chodankar had earlier tendered his resignation twice. In June 2019, after the then national Congress president Rahul Gandhi stepped down taking moral responsibility of the party’s big defeat in Lok Sabha elections and as Gandhi refused to withdraw his resignation after a month-long wait, Chodankar had tendered his resignation. However, it was rejected by the AICC.

In December 2020, Chodankar tendered his resignation for the second time to the party high command in Delhi after he was criticised and blamed by a section of party leaders for the humiliating defeat in the Zilla Panchayat elections.

In a balancing act, the AICC has appointed senior party leader and Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro, who was considered the top contender for the topmost job in the GPCC, as the chairperson of the election coordination committee, while senior leader M K Sheikh has been appointed as the co-chairperson of this committee.

South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha and MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, both, who were openly demanding a change in the local leadership, have been accommodated in different committees by the AICC.

Sardinha has been appointed as the chairperson of the finance committee along with Pramoda Salgaoncar as the co-chairperson. On the other hand, Lourenco will lead the campaign committee ahead of the Assembly polls and Congress leader Sangeetha Parab has been appointed as the co-chairperson of the said committee to assist Lourenco.

Former Union minister and senior party leader Ramakant Khalap, who was keen to take over from Chodankar as the GPCC president, has been appointed as the chairperson of manifesto committee and recently inducted former AAP convenor Elvis Gomes has been made the co-chairperson of the said committee.

Chodankar expressed his gratitude to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for reposing her faith in him to continue as GPCC president. “I am sure learning from the past experience, every member will work with utmost responsibility and dedication to ensure that Congress gets absolute majority to bring back people-friendly government,” Chodankar said.

Thanking the AICC president and other central leaders of the party for having appointed him as the working president of the GPCC, Sequeira said he would strive hard and work together with the local leaders to ensure party’s victory in 2022 elections.

“I assure GPCC president that I will cooperate with him and work as one team. At the end of the day, our goal is to ensure that in 2022 we bring Congress government to rule the state of Goa. I am confident that if we all gather together, which I am sure it would happen, we will be able to form the government,” Sequeira said.

“I welcome the decision of @INCIndia President Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji. With the guidance & support of @RahulGandhiji, @PChidambaram_INji & @dineshgrao, @INCGoa with @girishgoa & @AleixoASequeira will work as a team to ensure Victory in Goa Assembly Elections – 2022,” Kamat tweeted.

The Congress high command has also formed publicity committee headed by Chandrakant Chodankar as the chairperson and Martha Saldanha as the co-chairperson.

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