Aleixo Reginald Lourenco's decision to quit Trinamool Congress within a month of his much-publicised entry, is a jolt to the party's ambitions in Goa.
Lourenco, a third-term MLA, who quit Congress to join the TMC on December 20, was a prize catch for Mamata Banerjee's party.
His defection also triggered a sharp reaction from the Congress. Not only was Lourenco the party's working president but had also been declared the Congress candidate from Curtotim constituency, which he has been representing since 2007.
Lourenco tweeted that during the door-to-door campaign in his constituency, he got negative feedback about joining the TMC, and people asked him to do a course correction as soon as possible.
THE WEEK's attempts to contact him proved futile. But former BJP minister Michael Lobo, who recently joined Congress in Goa, indicated he invited Lourenco to return to the Congress in order to defeat the BJP.
What is interesting is that Lourenco quit TMC after the party had extended an olive branch to the Congress by saying that it wanted a grand alliance in Goa in order to defeat the BJP. The party's Goa election in-charge Mahua Moitra even said that the TMC is willing to go the extra mile to finalise the alliance.
When West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Goa in September last year, confidence of the party leaders sky-high. "We are going to defeat the BJP; anyone who wishes to join us, better do so now," a TMC leader had said during the media interaction.
Since then, however, the party has realised that without a solid cadre base, it is going to be a tough battle with the BJP in Goa, where the party is yet to gain a firm foothold. Hence, it tied up with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), a traditional BJP ally, hoping to corner a share of the Hindu votes. BJP had badly snubbed MGP in 2019 when it lured away two of its three legislators and made them ministers in the Pramod Sawant government.
A grand alliance in Goa looks unlikely, as Congress has not responded to TMC's appeal yet. AAP, too, has said that it does not want to be part of any pre-poll alliance.
The alliance between Congress and TMC can become a reality only if there is direct communication between top leaders of both parties. That appears to be a distant dream as of now.
