Alva fails to contain dissent in Goa Cong

Congress leader Margaret Alva’s attempts to contain dissent in the Goa unit of the party failed with several young MLAs vociferously opposing Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane. According to sources here, several MLAs who met with Alva, hit out at Rane and the two Congress ministers in his Cabinet, Luizinho Faleiro and Dayanand Narvekar.

MLAs like party spokesman Jitendra Deshprabhu, who opposed Parrikar, are already holding talks with their party workers to decide on the next course of action. Deshprabhu was among the handful of Congress leaders who openly opposed Parrikar’s government even at the risk of inviting the establishment’s wrath. He was not included in Rane’s Cabinet though.

Sources say, former CMs in the Congress, including Ravi Naik and Fransisco Sardinha, are said to be backing the younger MLAs.