Congress looking for new leader to head Goa unit

Party members said AICC secretary Sudhakar Reddy held talks with the leaders and workers in his recent visit here, to shortlist the names.

MP Fransisco Sardinha, MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, and Surendra Furtado - the longest serving corporation in Panaji Municipal Corporation - were expected to be in the list, they said.

Sardinha is currently the working president of Goa Congress, following the party's debacle in March polls where it lost power to BJP, and Subhash Shirodkar quit as the state unit chief.

Sources said Sardinha's recent statement to the media, where he refused to press for a ban on right wing outfit Ram Sene in Goa, could spoil his chances. The statement had not gone down well with the Congress leaders.

Furtado, a five-term corporator from Panaji, is considered to be the front-runner, as Lourenco is likely to be elected as deputy leader of the opposition in the Goa assembly.

"The party might consider Furtado as he is a senior politician," a party insider said.