PANAJI, NOV 5: Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro announced on Friday the merger of a faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with the Indian National Congress (INC). Francis D'Souza, an NCP MLA split from his party headed by former chief minister Dr Wilfred D'Souza and joined Faleiro's party.With this the ruling party has 26 members in the 40-member Goa Assembly. The two-member United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP) and two members of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) merged with the Congress after the Assembly elections in June. The breakaway NCP members also claimed that former chief minister Wilfred D'Souza too was keen on rejoining the Congress Party. D'Souza, who was the deputy chief minister in the Pratapsinh Rane regime, split the Congress last year to form the Goa Rajiv Congress. The GRC merged with Sharad Pawar's NCP before the last Lok Sabha elections.Wilfred D'Souza, however, did not condemn Francis D'Souza for joining the Congress. ``I wish him all the best,'' he said. Significantly, the former chief minister did not deny that he was talking to Congress president Sonia Gandhi about returning to INC.A section of the powerful Catholic Church has expressed support to the return of Dr D'Souza into the Congress Party. Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro, who is fiercely backing the controversial Meta Strips metal project, has run into a major confrontation with the clergy. Dr D'Souza, who is the only other Catholic chief ministerial candidate in Goa is, therefore, hoping to replace Faleiro.
