The Navelim Congress MLA Luizinho Faleiro who was appointed the General Secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC), in charge of North East States (excluding Assam), by party president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, has “rekindled hopes” among party men that the Congress MLA would help the party regain its “lost fortunes” in the region.
A report published in the The Times of India stated that the President of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, Girish Chodankar, while congratulating Faleiro on his new appointment, expressed confidence that Faleiro would help the party “bring back the old glory of North East”. “His earlier experience as in-charge of North East States and his understanding of their political dynamics will help the party in re-energising the North East,” Chodankar said.
The report further stated that Faleiro had been the AICC General Secretary in charge of seven States of the North East before being sent to Goa to head the party in 2014. He stepped down as the Congress president in June 2017 following severe criticism from party MLAs after the party failed to form the Government despite ending up as the single largest party in the 2017 Assembly elections. Since then, Faleiro had confined his activities to his constituency.
Faleiro’s appointment as General Secretary, once again as in-charge of North East States, is seen among party men as an affirmation of the Congress high command’s faith in Faleiro’s organisational abilities. During his earlier stint, Faleiro was credited with devising strategies and stitching alliances that led to the formation of Congress Governments in Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
With the BJP wresting power in several North East States in the recently held Assembly polls, Faleiro’s latest appointment brings him back into his role of the party’s points man in the North East ahead of the 2019 Parliamentary elections.