GPF Bats For Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco As Working President Of Goa Congress Unit

MARGAO: The Goa People’s Forum (GPF) is putting its entire weight behind Cutorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco for the post of “Working President” of the Goa Congress Unit.

Lourencos’ clean image and popularity in South Goa can help the Congress walk away with an easy victory margin in the constituencies of Nuvem, Velim, Navelim and even Benaulim and St Cruz and St Andre in the North, the GPF feels, if he is given a free hand to campaign in these areas, starting from now.

According to Espy Costa of Borim near Ponda and a founder-member of the Goa People’s Forum (GPF), a survey conducted among residents of Nuvem, Velim, Navelim, Benaulim and Curtorim showed that people residing in these constituencies had great respect for Reginaldo.

“The Goa Congress needs Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco to campaign for them aggressively in South Goa – not just a month before the polls, but from right now. With about six months left for the polls, if Lourenco starts meeting grassroots workers now, in each constituency, it will take him at least six months to cover all 40 constituencies. Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco is the man who can lead to Congress to victory and his aggressive performance is the need of the hour,” Costa told this reporter.

Swati Shilpa-Sharma a media personality, social worker and actor-director from Mumbai who is shooting a short film on tribal life in Nirankal forests, which fall in the Shiroda constituency having lived in the area for the last 8 months, also suggested that Lourenco is highly respected by voters in Shiroda as well. “Reginaldo is loved by the people for his simplicity and his accessibility. Voters feel he is one of them. They don’t see him as a politician,” she said.

“Without Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco at the forefront of campaigning, the Congress would be a lame or sitting duck for the Opposition in South Goa and the likes of BJP leaders like Babu Kavlekar will use all the means at their disposal to decimate the Congress,” opined Nuvem-based Priyanka D’souza and secretary of the Goa People’s Forum.

Irrespective of their internal differences, the Goa Congress Unit must declare its Star Campaigners and make Reginaldo its head, the GPF has suggested.