PANAJI, MARCH 10: Former chief minister of Goa Churchill Alemao is likely to be replaced as president of the State's Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) by another former CM Luizinho Faleiro.The reshuffle follows hectic political activity within the Congress party that hotted up early this week when several Congress MLAs made a beeline to join Chief Minister Fransisco Sardinha's Goa People's Party (GPP). Last minute intervention by Alemao averted the near split in the party. Later on Thursday Alemao and Faleiro rushed to New Delhi to consult party president Sonia Gandhi, who immediately dispatched general secretaries Ram Niwas Mirdha and Prabha Rao.On Friday Chief Minister Sardinha confirmed that his partymen were being wooed to rejoin the Congress. ``There are many offers,'' he admitted. Sardinha, however, insisted that he was comfortable in the Goa Democratic Alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party as a partner. ``We have ideological similarities with the Congress, but we are different parties,'' he added.Meanwhile, some Congress MLAs are still exploring the option of breaking away from the party. ``If Faleiro is not removed, at least six MLAs will join Sandinha's party on Saturday,'' a reliable Congress source told The Indian Express.Faleiro, who is reportedly close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, was toppled as chief minister last year when 11 MLAs led by Sardinha broke away to form the Goa People's Party. Subsequently, Faleiro was removed as leader of the Congress and replaced by Ravi Naik, former chief minister and ex-member of Parliament.
