PANAJI, MARCH 17: Despite a lacklustre performance during its two stints in office during the last five years, the Sonia Gandhi magic is working for the Congress in Goa. Sensing an encore of the Assembly elections in North India where the Congress rode to power, Goa politicians across the political spectrum are seeking refuge under the Nehru-Gandhi family banner.Congress leaders managed a coup of sorts against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when Pandurang Raut, a BJP candidate in the last Lok Sabha polls, joined the Congress fold. Raut had lost to Congress' Ravi Naik by a thin margin.Congressmen are now spreading the word that a BJP MLA from the just-dissolved Assembly will soon be ``coming home''. Other scalps bagged by the Congress include that of former Independent MLA Victoria Fernandes, and leaders like Shrikant Malik, Vasu Paik Goankar and Anil Hoble. Former MLAs from the regional Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party who do not get renominated, may soon be knocking at Congress doors.Speaking to the media on Saturday to announce the entry of Raut in the Congress fold, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPPC) president Shantaram Naik insisted on the victory of the Grand Old Party at the hustings. The names on Naik's scoreboard look formidable indeed. What began with former United Goans Democratic Party Churchill Alemao late last year, may culminate with the Congress swallowing even slices of the insignificant Shiv Sena in Goa.However, the entry of politicians of different hues into the Congress is already causing some heartburn among the ``loyalists''. The GPCC president himself let the cat out of the bag when questioned about the distribution of tickets. ``Just because some former MLAs have promised them (the new entrants) tickets, doesn't mean that they will be candidates of the Congress party,'' Naik said. Several newcomers are seen to be allied with different regional satraps like former chief ministers, Luizinho Faleiro, Pratapsingh Rane and former deputy chief minister Dayanand Narvkar.To avoid serious damage to its prospects, the PCC last week decided to let the party high command choose the candidates.Some Congress leaders who are sure of their bases have, however, announced their own candidature for the polls. Former Chief Minister Churchill Alemao, who merged his faction of the United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP) with the Congress recently, announced his candidature from the Benaulim Assembly segment. There are enough indications that Alemao may return to the UGDP fold if his supporters are not accommodated by the Congress. With identical scenarios being replayed in nearly a dozen of the 40 Assembly seats in the State, Congress leaders are preparing for large-scale rebellion in the party ranks.The Goa Rajiv Congress Party, led by Congress rebel and former CM Dr Wilfred D'Souza, is waiting in the wings to exploit any dissension in the ranks. With at least two Congressmen in the fray for tickets in many seats, the GRC is the alternative party for many Congressmen. D'Souza, who is fighting to keep his own political career alive by offering to take on former deputy chief minister Dayanand Nawekar anywhere in Goa, is putting together a regional coalition of the GRC, the UDGP and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.In other words, it promises to be a summer of discontent for Congressmen who have to take on foes within and outside the party.
