13 May 2002
FORMER
GOA CM FACES HIS ONCE TRUSTED PA IN POLLS
From
Jal Khambata
NEW DELHI: In retaliation to former Chief
Minister and Goa Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Wilfred de
Souza rejecting offer for three of the 40 seats in the Goa Assembly
elections, the Congress decided on Monday to embarrass him by
fielding against him none else but once his most confident personal
assistant (PA) Trajano D'Mello from Saligao constituency.
Trajano
who had broken away from Dr de Souza (known as Willy) about three
years ago had been his errand man for years and had been privy to all
his hushhush deals. Dr Willy, in fact, had full trust in Trajano to
assign him very sensitive deals which he cannot do himself in view of
his public image.
The Congress wants him to expose one misdeed
of Dr Willy a day on the basis of the solid information he has.
Trajano had been also privy to Dr de Souza, while in the Congress,
allegedly funding an anti-defection petition of then MGP leader
Ramakant Khalap in the High Court as also in the Supreme Court
against then Congress Chief Minister Ravi Naik. Trajano used to
attend the Supreme Court hearings while he or Dr Willy were supposed
to have nothing to do with the case.
Yet another embarrassing
issue that Trajano will be taking up is Dr Willy's concerted attempt
during his chief ministership to block the Konkan Railways because of
the pressure of the land mafia and the bus transporters. The then
Governor Bhanu Prakash Singh had to pick up a fight against Dr Willy
to ensure completion of the Konkan Railways line that has totally
transformed the face of Goa in terms of easy and fast movement.
The
Congress also announced on the last day of nominations on Monday
candidates for the two other seats that were originally left for NCP.
Premnath Maulingkar is its candidate for Tivim and Francis Fernandes
for Siolim.
In Mapusa, it has preferred to give ticket to
Arvind Jose Braganza ignoring the pressure of former Deputy Chief
Minister Dayanand Narvekar to give the seat to his brother Subhash.
Dayanand is Congress candidate from Aldona. Among the strong
contenders for Mapusa seat, which has never gone to Congress, was
also Surendra Sirsat, who had defected from the regional
Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party (MGP). END