‘Faced backlash’: Reginaldo Lourenco on why he quit Goa TMC within a month

Former Congress legislator Reginaldo Lourenco, who quit the Trinamool Congress (TMC) within a month of joining, on Monday apologised to the people of his constituency and his supporters for ditching the Congress without taking them into confidence.

“I hurt a lot of people. I hurt my friends, my close friends. I had taken the decision (to quit the Congress and join the TMC) without even a word with my constituents. My own friends started despising me. My own friends said I'm not going to talk to you,” Reginaldo said.

“I hurt a lot of people due to my decision, my wrong judgement. I wish to apologise to the people. I want to say sorry to them. I appreciate those who stood by me,” he added.

In his resignation letter, Lourenço didn’t specify reasons for quitting the TMC. In his comments on Monday, Reginaldo Lourenco said he was “promised a new dawn, but nothing materialised.”

“I was promised a new dawn. I thought there would be a lot of changes in the system. They said that there would be an alliance with the Congress party. But nothing materialised,” he said.

Lourenco quit the Congress after he was declared as the party’s candidate back in December, leaving the Congress “stunned and betrayed”. Lourenco had then criticised the Congress leadership for being “indecisive” and slow to take decisions.

Lourenco had indicated his disappointment with the Congress in the past too. He had then received a phone call from senior party leader Rahul Gandhi and elevated as working president of the party after pledging to recommit himself to the Congress.

Lourenço hopes to return to the Congress, saying his supporters have asked him to rejoin the the party -- a move that the Congress is yet to comment on, saying that the decision would be left to the decision of the party leadership.