Still waiting for Cong MLAs to form govt in Goa: Faleiro

Four years after being accused of sabotaging Congress efforts to form a coalition government in Goa in 2017, former Chief Minister and ex-state Congress President Luizinho Faleiro on Wednesday made a sarcastic remark about the claims made then by other Congress leaders about forming a government within 24 hours.

"I was told by some of our MLAs that they want to form the government within 24 hours. Many of them were not coming if Luizinho Faleiro was there. So, I told them I will go to Delhi, I had already submitted my resignation, But I will talk to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others and ask them to accept my resignation. They did not accept it," Faleiro told reporters.

His comments came a few days ahead of an impending reshuffle in the party's organisational structure, with an eye on the upcoming state Assembly polls, scheduled to be held in February 2022.

Even as the term of the ruling dispensation led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is scheduled to come to an end soon, Faleiro said that he is still waiting for the same Congress leaders who had demanded his ouster to form a Congress government in Goa.


"I am waiting since 2017 for those 24 hours to get over, so that we form the Congress government in Goa. I have never interfered since 2017 till today," Faleiro said.

The Congress was in the driver's seat after the 2017 Assembly polls, emerging as the single largest party. But a critical delay by the Congress leadership to formally stake claim before the Governor as well as quick manoeuvring by the BJP leadership had resulted in the BJP forming a coalition government in the coastal state.

Faleiro, who was the state Congress President then, and the then AICC General Secretary in-charge of Goa, Digvijaya Singh, had blamed one another over the lost opportunity to form a government in Goa.


When asked if he was in the ring for the post of state Congress chief once again ahead of the polls, Faleiro said: "There are many claimants. Many are interested. They should get an opportunity to become the president. I am not interested. It is up to the party high command to meet everybody and take a decision in the interest of the party and the organisation. The elections are fast approaching. The faster they do, the better it is."-IANS