By PTI
PANAJI: Congress veteran from Goa, Luizinho Faleiro, on Monday said he was quitting as MLA and primary member of the party and slammed the state Congress unit which he described as “a cruel parody of what the Congress stands for”.
Faleiro, however, didn’t divulge his plans amid speculations that he might join the Trinamool Congress even as he hailed the leadership of TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Addressing his resignation letter to All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi, Faleiro, who represented Navelim seat, has alleged that the Goa unit of the party is led by a “coterie” of leaders whose priority is personal gains.
“(The Goa Congress unit is) led by a coterie of leaders who prioritize personal gains over the responsibility we owe to our people. We have utterly failed to even be an effective opposition,” he wrote.
The two-page resignation letter also mentions that “the Congress party in Goa is not the same party for which we had sacrificed and fought.”
“It is functioning contrary to every ideal and principle of its founding fathers upheld by Indiraji, Rajivji and you (Sonia Gandhi),” it said.
“Shri Rahul Gandhiji too has been uncompromising in his fight against the forces that seek to destroy the fabric of our nation. However, the Goa unit of the party has become a cruel parody of what the Congress stands for,” he added.
Faleiro, who tendered his resignation as an MLA to Goa Assembly speaker, said, “till now, none is being held accountable for the loss of our 13 MLAs while sidelining of true Congress workers continues.”
“I see absolutely no hope or even the will to prevent the collapse of the party and the change for the better,” he said.
Faleiro was referring to the 13 MLAs crossing over to the BJP over the last five years, reducing Congress to a single-digit entity in the 40-member House.
In his resignation letter, Faleiro has also accused former AICC Goa Desk in-charge Digvijaya Singh, without naming him, of stopping him to stake claim to form the government in 2017 despite the Congress having the required number of MLAs on its side.
“I was prevented from going to the governor by the AICC desk in-charge and was asked to wait till we had 24 MLAs, a decision that eventually cost us the government and allowed the BJP to steal the mandate through manipulations and inducements,” he alleged.
He repeated the allegation in the press conference also without taking any name.
Praising Mamata Benerjee and calling for the unification of the fragmented Congress, Faleiro told reporters that he wanted to bring a new dawn to Goa.
“Goa needs a credible alternative and my resignation is a call for unification,” he added.
