BY A GT REPORTER
PANJIM: Is Dr Wilfred de Souza unhappy with the decision to nominate Jitendra Deshprabhu as the NCP candidate for the North Goa parliamentary seat?
During a press conference, held on Thursday, the state NCP president evaded a direct reply whether he was happy with Deshprabhu's candidature or otherwise. "Persons meant to be happy are the people of Goa, North Goa in particular. It is their wish. If they wish, he (Deshprabhu) will win," said Dr de Souza.
When asked to judge Deshprabhu's candidature on the grounds of 'winnability', Dr de Souza replied, "Deshprabhu has been a member of the Goa legislative Assembly for two terms. I have seen his performance. His performance as a legislator is satisfactory. Under the present circumstances, I don't know what will be the impression in the minds of the people...whether happy or not, we have chosen a candidate. Now, we will have to work."
Elaborating further about the absence of a candidate from the NCP to contest the LS elections, Dr de Souza recounted the decisions of the State Executive Committee. "We had sent six names proposed by the state NCP Executive Committee. It was considered by the party High Command and they chose a third person (Deshprabhu)."
He also denied any compromise formula worked out between himself and the party High Command. "No. There is no compromise formula. My High Command and the Congress High Command decided on a coalition...they decided that we want a winnable candidate. We all sat and arrived at a formula."
Elaborating on the happenings at the national level and other such coalitions with the Congress which have fallen apart, Dr Willy informed that he received a message on Sunday from the NCP party High Command about sewing up the coalition at the state level. "Once I got the signal, I got in touch with Chief Minister Digambar Kamat. It was decided that a consensus candidate who will win has to be fielded.
