Political Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
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Mangalore, Jul 29 : If the news of the very entry of J R Lobo into the Congress party had created ripples within the Congress party functionaries, the function organized to mark his formal entry into the party yesterday is marked by pandemonium, much to the embarrassment of the Congress party. Apart from causing embarrassment this incident has exposed the chinks in the armour of the Congress Party in Dakshina Kannada which was way ahead of its rivals in preparing for the assembly polls, which is just a year away.
It is also unfortunate that the political entry of J R Lobo, known to be an upright bureaucrat with a clean image and impeccable credentials, is marred by chaos over what is projected to be a trivial issue. The incident however is likely to have widespread ramifications because many Congress leaders are openly saying that the ugly episode was stage managed by an important Congress party functionary Ivan D Souza, a MLA ticket aspirant, who felt threatened by the entry of J R Lobo and wanted to thwart J R Lobo’s efforts of getting a smooth entry into the party. If the reactions of the party leaders are anything to go by, one wonders whether this incident has rendered a death blow to the political aspiration s of Ivan D Souza!
Stage Managed?
Ivan D Souza, it may be recalled, is a Congress ticket aspirant for the coming assembly polls along with other aspirants like Suresh Ballal, Dolphy D Souza and others. It is said that the state Congress has decided to give ticket to a Catholic from Mangalore assembly constituency for the next assembly elections and Ivan was the frontrunner for the ticket until J R Lobo’s dramatic announcement of joining Congress, which upset his apple cart.
Ivan was the Congress party’s candidate in the last elections against BJP’s Yogish Bhat and had lost. With BJP’s popularity taking a beating in the state in the last five years, Ivan was sure of putting up a good show to defeat the BJP in its own bastion.
Reliable sources say that today’s function was organized by Ramanath Rai, President of D K Pradesh Congress Committee with the knowledge of KPCCI President Dr Parameshwar.
These sources also say that Congress leaders had felt they needed a candidate with clean image and with secular credentials to take on the might of BJP. In fact, it is now revealed that J R Lobo was approached long back to join the party by Congress leaders, intellectuals and his friends and acquaintances who knew him, to quit his post and join the Congress. It is only recently J R Lobo finally decided to take a plunge bowing to the demands of his friends and well wishers.
Congress Embarrassed
Many senior Congress leaders who are upset by the turn of events are openly pointing an accusing finger at Ivan D Souza, KPCCI Secretary, for stage managing the incident. Senior most office-bearer of the party at the District Vice President Tejomaya terms the incident as “undemocratic and against the ethics of the congress party”. “Ivan has stage-managed the show to thwart the efforts of J R Lobo, which is undemocratic. I will write to KPCCI President Parameshwar and would press for action against him for such a shameful act”, He said. Tejomaya also said that when he was the acting President of the party when Ivan joined the Congress in 2004 the entire Congress rank and file welcomed him with open arms. He went on to add “I don’t know why he cannot be high-minded in welcoming J R Lobo in the same spirit”.
Suresh Ballal, another senior Congressman and also an aspiring candidate for assembly ticket from Mangalore says “I am greatly pained by the turn of events. Even I am an aspirant for the assembly ticket. But if the party decides to give ticket to anyone else I will work to ensure the victory of the party candidate. I strongly believe it was a preplanned incident aimed at stopping the entry of J R Lobo into Congress”. He said if Congressmen continue to behave like the way they did yesterday, it is going to be a big setback for the party in its efforts to wrest the assembly seats from the BJP after a gap of 20 years.
Ramanath Rai, when contacted tried to evade the issue saying he is not aware about the incident being stage managed. He said he had arranged this function by inviting Congress workers to attend the ceremony. He brushed aside the incident as a minor scuffle within the party. .
When daijiworld asked Ivan D Souza on what he has to say about the incident being contrived by him, he refused it outright saying “when I entered the party premises the incident was already over. I was unaware of what had happened. People can say so many things about me because they are all aspirants for the assembly ticket. I would take them to court if they really say that I engineered the incident”.
Ivan also termed today’s incident as unfortunate saying the ugly scene at the party office is not connected with the entry of J R Lobo. “It was fight between two individuals, P V Mohan and Ashraf but was given a different connotation purposely”, he hinted. He went on to add “giving ticket to aspirants is left to party high command.
Why should I oppose the entry of J R Lobo? In Congress party anybody can aspire for a ticket and there is no bar for anyone to seek a ticket”.
Despite his strong denial many Congress workers say there is a strong evidence to show that Ivan was the brain behind the incident which was executed with a preplanned motive. Some Congress workers say that people who created ruckus at the party office were those identified with Ivan’s group and hence he cannot feign innocence.
Moreover, it is learnt that Ivan entered the party premises just 5 minutes after the incident and once he began to speak the people who were creating disorder were quiet.
Sunil Kumar a Congress worker says that by opposing J R Lobo on this count Ivan has shown he is a big hypocrite. “Soon after joining the Congress in 2004 Ivan was an aspirant for Congress party ticket although the party had finalized the name of Lancelot Pinto. Just because Janardhana Poojary stood firm Lancelot Pinto got the party ticket then. Therefore, Ivan has no moral standing to say that only those who worked for party should be given tickets for the assembly seat”.
Blame Game?
AICC member P V Mohan, who is also in the centre of this controversy, says this function was organized to mark the formal entry of J R Lobo into the Congress party. Mohan denied that he was in no way responsible for the scuffle. “The video clearly shows Ashraf saying that he knew about it yesterday which means that the incident was planned with a definite motive. Those who were behind the ugly occurrence are putting the blame on me”, he complained.
Mohan also said “this event was not to decide about the party ticket. That is left for the Congress High command. But we had requested the party that we need a candidate with secular credentials, the one who can take all people with him without taking into account race, religion, caste and creed. After the death of Blasius we did not find a candidate who had these qualities. J R Lobo has all these qualities and we felt his entry would strengthen our party. I don’t know why others should feel insecure about it”, he remarked.
J R Lobo must have witnessed this kind of political incidents earlier (having worked with various Congress leaders) but it is the first time he is in the centre of political controversy which has taken an ugly turn. When daijiworld contacted him to get his views he said “I really feel sad about the entire episode. Whoever has done it, I don’t know what motivated them to do that. I was really happy to see many senior Congressmen at the function but unfortunately it turned out to be an ugly incident”. Lobo said that he decided to join the Congress because he was basically a Congressman. “One need not become a Congressman by merely becoming a primary member of the party. There is no point in criticizing political parties from outside. I wanted to be a part of it and cleanse it from within. Political parties are an inseparable part of a democratic set up”, he argued.
Whatever may be the circumstances, it was unfortunate that the event has exposed the disunity within the Congress and also the extent to which some politicians can stoop down to in order to gain an upper hand. In fact a senior Congressman like Suresh Ballal showed his magnanimity by personally welcoming J R Lobo at the entrance of the party office and demonstrated he is a gentleman politician, though he is also a ticket aspirant.
One expects such political decency from other politicians also. Whether Ivan did it or not is not the issue here. But was it was necessary to create a fracas, is the question many Congressmen ask. Who will answer them?
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