Goa Congress Chief seeks action against own MLA after he attends BJP leader's birthday party

The letter was written a day after MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira participated in the birthday celebration of BJP MLA Nilesh Cabral, a political rival of Amit Patkar.

Panaji: Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar has demanded action against his own party MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira for indulging in "anti-party conduct", claiming he violated its discipline by attending the birthday celebration of a BJP legislator.

In a letter written on July 11 to All India Congress Committee's Goa in-charge Manikrao Thakare, Patkar questioned Ferreira's loyalty towards the party and sought action against him, claiming his conduct has demoralised the party cadres across the state.

The letter was written a day after Ferreira participated in the birthday celebration of BJP MLA Nilesh Cabral, a political rival of Patkar.

"On July 10, Carlos Alvares Ferreira, the Congress MLA from Aldona, was seen participating in a birthday celebration hosted by BJP Curchorem Mandal of their MLA and former minister Nilesh Cabral in Curchorem," said the letter.

Ferreira's presence in such a high-profile BJP gathering, at a time when the Congress was vigorously opposing the saffron party government's "misrule", is not just unfortunate, but is a "blatant and deliberate violation of party discipline", Patkar claimed.

The Congress held an outreach programme in Curchorem, three days prior to the birthday celebration, he pointed out.

"Carlos Ferreira chose not to attend this Congress-led initiative but appeared without hesitation at a BJP event in the same constituency," Patkar said.

"This sends a distressing and demoralising message to our cadre, especially in Curchorem where we narrowly lost by just 600 votes in the last election and are working diligently to regain lost ground," he said.

In the past, on December 15, 2023, a detailed confidential note was moved to then AICC Goa in-charge Manickam Tagore that had clearly flagged a "consistent pattern of anti-party actions by Ferreira," Patkar claimed.

Despite multiple internal attempts to address and course-correct this behaviour, Ferreira's conduct has only "worsened", the state Congress chief alleged.

"His continued public engagements with BJP leaders while holding the position of a Congress MLA undermines the moral authority of the party, demoralises ground-level workers, and creates public confusion about our collective political stance," he said.

Ferreira was not available for comment.