PANAJI: So the honeymoon between the Goa Congress top brass and former Calangute MLA Michael Lobo is finally over. In what could be sweet music to the ears of the BJP, AAP and TMC leadership in Goa, Lobo today openly expressed his “disappointment” with the Congress leadership who ‘denied’ his friend Reginald Lourenco the Curtorim ticket.

And in what could be considered the first signs of a major rift brewing and apparently widening between former Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, who switched sides from the BJP and joined the Congress, and the Goa State Congress leadership, Lobo (commenting on the refusal to re-admit Lourenco back into the Congress fold) expressed his deep dissatisfaction and frustration with senior Congress leaders, including the AICC in-charge P Chidambaram and Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao, without taking any names.

The reason for Lobo’s frustration is the fact that the Congress snubbed three-time, ‘best performing’ Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco and gave the ticket to a comparatively unknown entity Moreno Rebello, instead of Lourenco, who returned from the TMC in a huff, in spite of Lobo’s insistence with the Congress leadership, that Reginaldo should be given a chance.

Lobo made his intention very clear, when he openly invited Reginaldo to rejoin the Congress without even discussing the matter with the other leaders including State President Girish Chodankar and LoP Digambar Kamat.

The miffed Congress leaders felt Lobo who had just joined the party had exceeded his brief in interfering in the Reginaldo matter and decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Reginaldo was denied the ticket, to “teach him a lesson and also show Michael Lobo his place”, said a senior Congressman.

By doing so, the Congress top brass not only demonstrated to Reginaldo that they do not ‘need’ him to win Curtorim, but also showed Lobo who the bosses were. This decision was a case of ego over reason and the Congress leadership can still make amends as the ‘B’ forms are not yet given out.

But Lobo being Lobo, had to shoot his mouth off!

Not just that, Michael Lobo wanted “his man” to be given the Aldona ticket, which was also denied by the Congress team. He was told indirectly to be content with Calangute, Saligao, Siolim and Mapusa (where Lobo has his friends or proteges as Congress candidates) and draw the boundaries of “Together for Bardez”.

And Lobo who is very outspoken and could be a motor-mouth at times, went public with his “disappointment” with the Congress State brass, shooting from the hip at a crucial moment.

A little birdie today chirped that a ‘smarting’ Lobo may delay the delivery of the moolah to Congress House in retaliation for the royal snub, to show the Congress that they after all cannot bite the hand that feeds them.

Panaji: While the high command in Delhi may still be dilly-dallying about the Goa Congress chief, one fact cannot be overlooked.

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.

ALSO READ: Lourenco spends money from ‘own pocket’ to repair roads in Curtorim

The people of South Goa have tremendous faith in him and respect him. I have seen this myself during the election campaign of 2019. Other Goa MLAs may be feared for their money and muscle power, but Reginaldo is loved for his humility and simplicity. Whatever his shortcomings they can be made up with other senior leaders jointly taking key decisions. But without Reginaldo at the helm of campaigning, the Congress is doomed to single digit numbers in Goa.

Without Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, the Congress would be a lame or sitting duck for the Opposition and the likes of Babu Kavlekar will use all the means at their disposal to decimate the Congress.

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

He should be in-charge of the election campaign along with other seasoned hands like Francisco Sardinha, Digambar Kamat and Ramakant Khalap. These four if they put their hearts and heads together unitedly can take the Congress in Goa to a sure-shot win.

ALSO READ: Reginaldo sounds the bugle for a state-wide mass protest against the Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill

During the last week of July, Rahul Gandhi had summoned state party president Girish Chodankar, opposition leader Digambar Kamat, Navelim MLA Luizinho Falerio, South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, former Union minister Ramakant Khalap and Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco to Delhi.

According to a Times of India report, Gandhi had one-on-one meetings with them and later met with AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal and AICC Goa desk in charge Dinesh Gundu Rao.

“We were called to Delhi because Rahul Gandhi wanted to hear from us about Goa and we have given him our feedback,” Faleiro said.

Gandhi met senior leaders of Goa and told them to work unitedly and to promote young and new faces to win the assembly elections, Rao said in a statement.

During the meeting, Gandhi sought inputs about the political situation in Goa and discussed various strategies for the coming assembly elections.

But Gandhi should not fail to see the writing on the wall. There is hardly any time left. An election campaign committee must be set up with Reginaldo as its head – to commence door-to-door visits to every household – at least in South Goa.