Luizinho Effect: Rahul Gandhi to take stock, rejig all State Committees, Agnelo summoned to Delhi

PANAJI: With Navelim MLA and senior Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro quitting the Congress, the High Command led by Rahul Gandhi has decided to once again rejig all the State-level committees it had recently appointed.

It is learnt that a shocked Rahul Gandhi has decided to crack the whip and demand answers from Goan Congress leaders in the coming week. Senior Observer P Chidambaram has been ordered to grill, vet and evaluate every Congress politician or candidate aspirant in Goa within two weeks.

Former Calangute MLA and Congress spokesperson Agnelo Fernandes and two more are summoned to Delhi immediately for a debriefing on the Luizinho affair, as he was apparently close to Faleiro and a few days earlier held a press conference to speak for him, indicating his joining Mamata Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) party.

The AICC is likely to grill Agnelo Fernandes on why he did not bring the matter to the notice of the AICC immediately, instead of holding a press conference. There are rumors and media reports that Fernandes may also be joining the AITC in the next few weeks, and the High Command is likely to question him on these reports.

While senior Congressmen Yatish Naik and Vijai Pai also resigned from the Congress; and joined Faleiro at his media conference on Monday evening at the Marriott Hotel, it seems at least 3 other Congress leaders are on their way out to join Faleiro and the TMC in the coming days.

Names of other politicians like BJP Shiroda MLA Subhash Shirodkar and MLA Govind Gaude have cropped up on social media, with allegations that the duo may be on their way to Didi’s party. Shirodkar, a former senior Congressman who was with the party for more than 30 years, was also the GPCC President and had been elected MLA on a Congress ticket several times. He switched to the BJP in October 2018 and contested and won the Shiroda seat on a BJP ticket in the by-polls of 2019.

Both Shirodkar and Gaude did not reply to our SMS messages seeking a confirmation or denial about the rumors. On Monday late evening, Gaude said he would call back, but never did.

Faleiro was heading the all-important State Election Committee, which had the mandate to interview, screen and finalize candidates in every constituency along with Goa desk-incharge Dinesh Gundu Rao and Senior Election Observer P Chidambaram, before sending the list to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) for formal approval. With his moving out, several portfolios are likely to be reshuffled.