NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The Congress party is all set for a makeover as Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader of the state Shantaram Naik is most likely to become the next Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president.
His appointment will be interim till the organisational election process is completed over the next three months.
The appointment of Naik will be done to fill the gap following the resignation of incumbent GPCC president Luizinho Faleiro.
According to top sources in the party, most of the Congress MLAs had given their consent to propose Naik’s name to the Goa desk in-charge Dr Chella Kumar when he visited the state recently and the same has been considered by the party high command on Tuesday during a meeting held in New Delhi.
The leader of opposition Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavlekar, who attended the Tuesday meeting, confirmed that there was a discussion with All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice president Rahul Gandhi and Dr Chella Kumar about the probable candidates including Naik, who could be the successor to Faleiro.
“I was asked to come to Delhi by the Office of Rahul Gandhi. Today I, Mr Gandhi and Goa desk in-charge Dr Chella Kumar had a detailed meeting for almost over an hour wherein many names were taken up for discussion including that of Shantaram Naik’s for the post of GPCC chief. We even came to a conclusion as to who can fill the shoes of Faleiro but I will not disclose the name. Let’s wait for an official confirmation from Delhi,” said Kavlekar.
Speaking to this daily from Delhi over telephone, Dr Chella Kumar said that the decision on Faleiro’s resignation and the announcement of the new leader for the party’s top post in the state will be announced in the next two days. “We have spoken to all concerned Goan Congress leaders and discussions are almost over. Now it is up to the AICC president and vice president to take a final decision on Faleiro’s resignation and also on the new GPCC president if they want to have a replacement in the leadership. The decision is expected in a couple of days,” said Dr Chella Kumar.
Kavlekar said that though there has been no official communication from New Delhi about Faleiro’s resignation, Faleiro has verbally communicated with all the local Congress MLAs in the last week that his resignation has been accepted by the party high command.
According to sources, apart from Naik’s name, the other names taken up for discussion included senior leader and chairman of the party’s legal cell Ramakant Khalap, Ponda MLA Ravi Naik, AICC secretary Girish Chodankar and spokesperson Adv Yatish Naik.