Senior leader Luizinho Faleiro resigned from the Rajya Sabha membership on April 11, barely one day after West Bengal’s ruling party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee, lost its national party status on April 10. As was already indicated by Faleiro, he will soon quit TMC also, as per the media reports. Luizinho tendered his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar & in the resignation letter, Faleiro wrote, “I am of the considered opinion that I should free myself of this responsibility to enable me to work as a foot soldier again in Goa’s cause in my sunset years in public service”. After this, it is doubtful that Faleiro will continue to serve as the national vice president of Trinamool, as he has already suggested his resignation from TMC.
Falerio claimed in a statement to the media that despite having “best intentions,” things “didn’t quite go according to plan.” He did, however, thank Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the TMC and the chief minister of West Bengal, for giving him “important positions in the party.”
Faleria got his Rajya Sabha nomination from West Bengal which is currently ruled by TMC and has the power to nominate 12 members. The party might hold onto his seat, which Trinamool’s Arpita Ghosh left for him in 2021, until April 2026. Mamata would nominate a candidate for the Rajya Sabha who is likely to be elected to the Upper House unopposed as soon as the Election Commission declares a byelection.
In his resignation letter, he wrote, “I am of the considered opinion that I should free myself of this responsibility to enable me to work as a foot soldier again in Goa’s cause in my sunset years in public service”. In response to his resignation, TMC said, “We wish Mr. Luizinho Faleiro good health, happiness, and long life. We sincerely hope that he continues to tirelessly serve the people of Goa and strive towards achieving more progress and advancement of the state. AITC will announce a new candidate for the seat as and when the election is notified.” The newly created vacancy has sparked rumours in the political backrooms, with many believing that another import from Congress will take the seat.
Falerio didn’t mention any reasons, but he shared his challenges as a Goan MP who is not an MP from Goa. According to sources, TMC was angry with Faleiro since he allegedly declined to run against Vijai Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party in Fatorda for the Goa Assembly in 2022. Following widespread accusations that he was leaving the TMC due to his decision not to run in the 2022 Assembly Elections, Faleiro denied them in January of last year, but now leaving TMC is becoming a reality day by day. Even the party performed miserably and was not able to secure a single seat with a voter turnout of about 5.2 per cent votes and blamed Faleiro for Trinamool’s for their disastrous performance.
Luizinho Faleiro is a 71 years old Goan politician from Navelim Constituency. He started his political career at Indian National Congress and won his first election in 1979 with 7715 votes. For seven terms, Falerio represented the Navelim Constituency as an MLA. He formerly held the position of Chief Minister of Goa for two terms. Faleiro is credited with developing plans and forming alliances that resulted in establishing governments in Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh while serving as a Vice President of the All India Congress Committee of the Indian National Congress. He was also the chairman of the screening committee for the Karnataka Pradesh Assembly Elections in 2013, and Congress won those elections. On September 27, 2021, Falerio quit the Indian National Congress and joined TMC on September 29, 2021. It would be interesting to see the next move of Faleiro after leaving his Rajya Sabha membership.
