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Rane replaced as Goa CLP leader

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

After a tug of war within the Goa Congress over the leadership of the legislature party, former chief minister Pratapsing Rane has been replaced with Luizinho Faleiro, former industries minister, as the new Opposition leader.

This is likely to be followed by the replacement of the state Pradesh Congress Committee, presently headed by Shantaram Naik.

Ravi Naik, the North Goa MP, has rushed to Delhi to lobby for the PCC president's post.

Though he did not specify why Rane was asked to step down, Congress observer Raghunandan Lal Bhatia said it was a unanimous decision and Faleiro's name was proposed by Rane.

The replacement is seen as indication that the Congress has lost hope of regaining power by engineering defections within the Goa Rajiv Congress, a group of Congressmen who split the party on July 27 to form a coalition government headed by Dr Wilfred de Souza.

Bhatia admitted that the Congress may return to power only after the next assembly election, which, he felt, are "not far." He said the BJP -- which supports the de Souza government from outside -- is planning to dissolve the Goa assembly in the next two months.

Though Congress leaders frantically tried to woo some of their former colleagues back to the party fold, their attempt was foiled by Dr de Souza's patch up with Irrigation Minister Dayanand Narvekar last week.

Narvekar, who split the Congress along with Dr de Souza, was dissatisfied with the allocation of portfolios and said to be planning a return to the parent party.

Meanwhile, pressure started building up within the Congress, that both Rane and Naik be removed as they had failed to keep the party together. Dr de Souza and his group had complained about Rane's "dictatorial attitude" when they left the party.

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