18 Goa Congressmen Quit Party

Summary

This Times of India News Service report, dated Panjim, November 5, 1963, describes the resignation of eighteen Goa Congressmen, including the party’s vice-president and secretary and six members of the Pradesh Congress Committee. The resignations protested the Central Parliamentary Board’s distribution of Congress tickets for the forthcoming elections and were presented as a serious challenge to the ruling party’s prestige in Goa.

Key points

• Eighteen Goa Congressmen resigned over the allocation of election tickets.
• The resignatories included senior Goa Congress and Pradesh Congress Committee members.
• The report says the resignations created a major crisis in the Congress organisation in Goa.
• Two additional Congress nominees, Anthony D’Souza and Dr. Rama Hegde, are reported to have resigned.
• The resignatories criticised the choice of candidates as unfair and binding on all Congressmen.
• Goa Congress president Mr. Purushottam Kakodkar deplored the resignations and defended the Central Parliamentary Board’s decisions.
• The resignations followed a Congressmen’s decision to hold a one-hour protest session.