Moot question unanswered – what stops Cong leadership from constituting Margao block?
AICC General secretary in-charge of Goa Manikrao Thakare addressing Margao congress workers on Sunday, but had no answer to the delay in constituting the Margao block till date.
Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Ardent supporters of Congress-turned-BJP Margao MLA Digambar Kamat appeared in an upbeat mood over reports of a Cabinet berth for the seven-time MLA in the Pramod Sawant-led BJP dispensation.
On the other hand, hopes that Congress Goa in-charge, Manikrao Thakare would ring in good news for Margao Congressmen to strengthen the Block with a president and committee appeared dashed once again.
In fact, the AICC General Secretary in-charge of Goa descended in Margao with State Congress president Amit Patkar and district Congress president Savio D’Silva in tow on Sunday. They, however, only handed over a promise to Congress workers that the Margao block would be constituted soon, throwing up a question or two amongst party workers over the reasons behind the huge delay in constituting the block and committees of the party’s frontal organisations which had quit the party lock, stock and barrel along with Kamat on September 14, 2022.
After the interaction with the party rank and file from Margao, a party worker wondered why there’s an inordinate delay by the party leadership to reconstitute the Margao Congress block. “The people of Margao are serious in teaching the Margao MLA a lesson for defection. This message was sent loud and clear to the Congress-turned-BJP MLA in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. But, what is baffling is that the party is dragging its feet to constitute the block and take the battle to the enemy camp”, the party worker remarked.
He added: “Despite the absence of the block, Madgavkars had rallied behind the party in the Lok Sabha election. The party should have capitalized on the Lok Sabha election results. It’s now two years and half since Kamat had defected to the BJP. And, it will soon be a year since the Lok Sabha results sent a clear message to the Margao MLA. Somehow, the Margao block Congress is yet to fall in place till date for reasons best known to the party leadership”
Another worker remarked that all the rhetoric praising people for reducing BJP’s lead in Margao from the projected 10,000 vote to 1,500 vote will not help strengthen the party. “Digambar Kamat is anxiously waiting for a Cabinet berth, to recover lost ground on his home turf. The Congress should at least now constitute the block to gear up for the 2027 election”, the worker added.
The issue over the inordinate delay in reconstituting the Margao Congress block came to haunt party leaders, including Manikrao Thakare and PCC President Amit Patkar during their interaction with workers on Sunday. The duo wriggled out of the situation by only promising to constituting the block at the earliest, but the moot question remains unanswered – what stops the Congress leadership from constituting the Margao block and the frontal organisations, all deserted when Digambar Kamat had quit the party to embrace the BJP on September 14, 2022.
