The Congress in Goa is battling heavy infighting and senior leaders are on the verge of quitting the party to join the Trinamool Congress. After former Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro, who is likely to join TMC on Wednesday, sources have now told CNN-News18 that senior advocate Antonio Clovis Costa will be formally joining the party in West Bengal the same day.
Costa is the president of South Goa Advocates Association. He was instrumental in filing a PIL, seeking urgent intervention and relief during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic during which several patients lost their lives allegedly due to lack of oxygen at Goa Medical College.
In pictures accessed exclusively by CNN-NEWS18, the senior advocate is seen with TMC MP Derek O’Brien. According to sources, Derek met the young lawyer during his recent trip to Goa. Costa also had a meeting with I-PAC founder Prashant Kishor in Kolkata earlier, sources said.
According to a senior TMC leader, currently camping in Goa, it was Costa’s clean image that made him a natural choice for the party. “He is not affiliated to any political party and, hence, has done well in his field in reaching out to people, especially during the pandemic. He was a natural choice,” added the leader.
Sources also said Costa is likely to be the TMC candidate from Velim constituency. Goa is due for polls in February 2022. CNN-News18 tried reaching out to Clovis for a comment, but he did not respond to calls and messages. He is believed to be already enroute Kolkata.
At Wednesday’s programme in the West Bengal capital, former Congress heavyweight Faleiro, along with other former party leaders, will join the TMC in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Costa will also be a part of the same programme.
Faleiro had on Monday said at a press conference that Goa needed a street-fighter like Mamata to fight the BJP in the coastal state.
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