NAVELIM: In the final lap of the campaign for the much-delayed Navelim Zilla Panchayat (ZP) poll, countermanded due to the death of the Congress candidate, there is little to predict the winner.
Prior to the former candidate’s death, it had been a triangular battle in the constituency comprising panchayat areas of Navelim, Telaulim, Sirlim-Dramapur and Sarzora with three candidates in the fray. Now there are four, as BJP has fielded Satyavijay Naik who incidentally along with Edwin (Cipru) Cardozo had unsuccessfully contested the Navelim Assembly elections held in 2017 as the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) candidate while Cardozo was an independent candidate.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
While AAP’s Matilda Silva is trying to make her electoral debut, Cardozo is seeking a hattrick battling the anti-incumbency factor against him with the Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee (GPMCC) president Pratima Coutinho putting up a valiant effort to regain this former Congress bastion, while BJP’s Satyavijay Naik hopes to benefit from the ensuing split in votes among his rivals, if not increase the BJP voter base in Navelim constituency for the forthcoming assembly polls in 2022.
Political analysts opine that BJP’s entry into the Navelim ZP by-polls could change the political prospects of the two-term independent former Navelim ZP member Cardozo.
AAP, on the other hand, could impact the Congress that has fielded its strongest possible candidate after she initially displayed reluctance to contest the by-elections.
Herald contacted the four candidates who were busy in their respective election campaigns.
ALL FOUR CANDIDATES HAVE EQUAL CHANCE: EDWIN
Cardozo said, “I have finished my election door-to-door campaigning in the Navelim, Telaulim and Sirlim-Dramapur village panchayat areas barring one ward in Sirlim-Dramapur village that will be covered on Thursday evening. Due to lack of time, campaigning in Sarzora could not be done but I have received a good response from the voters of these areas as they know me very well. They will not vote for BJP despite the presence of local BJP MLA Felipe Neri Rodrigues, who is also the Water Resources Minister.”
Banking on his personal votes to emerge victorious, Cardozo further claimed that the entry of the BJP candidate as well as the Congress candidate would not affect his poll prospects. Denying the anti-incumbency factor, Cardozo said he had presented his report card to the voters who are aware of the various development works that he has undertaken during his two terms as the Navelim ZP member with appreciation received from the voters during his election campaigning for the works done by him.
Cardozo did not foresee any main election rival, stating that ‘all four candidates stood an equal chance at the polls. “Besides, Pratima was in Margao constituency earlier but has now shifted her political base to Navelim so people are questioning the reasons why. Also, she has not done any work in this constituency so she is not very known,” Cardozo said.
BJP WILL BE LAST: MATILDA
Silva, too, claimed that the BJP candidate did not stand a chance in the by-polls and would be in the fourth position when the election results are announced. “AAP has finished it’s election campaigning in the Sinquetim ward in Navelim, besides corner meetings held in Sarzora, Dramapur, Telaulim, the Mandoppa and Dongorim wards in Navelim. Corner meetings have not been held in Nagmoddem and Sinquetim wards in Navelim. It will be a triangular fight between the Congress, AAP and the independent candidate Cipru with the voters deciding upon the fate of these candidates but AAP will definitely win,” Silva said.
The AAP campaign team said that with discontent brewing among locals against Cipru, BJP being allegedly riddled in corruption at the State level, and Congress positioning a reluctant candidate, their nominee appears to be emerging as the next viable choice. “Considering Navelikars prioritizing basic facilities such as water, electricity, health, and education as key issues to determine their vote, D’Silva is in a position of advantage with the AAP delivering on its poll promises in Delhi of ensuring good quality basic facilities,” a AAP team member told Herald.
Silva has AAP’s Benaulim ZP member Hanzel Fernandes backing her, and similar to the Benaulim campaign, the party is focusing on delivering services. Silva has also promised to work on improving the infrastructure of anganwadis, to establish a Mohalla Clinic in Waddo, and to initiate a bus service since residents of Sarzora and Dramapur have been demanding public transport. “These promises seem to be capturing the imagination of Navelikars who have been fighting for these services in Navelim,’ AAP sources said.
Taking a dig at Coutinho, AAP said in her manifesto, Coutinho has mentioned problem areas of the constituency such as the deplorable condition of roads, intermittent water supply, poor garbage management among others, promising to resolve them. “Although well-intentioned, her commenting on the poor facilities in Navelim makes one question the lack of coordination within the party since Navelim’s MLA is Congress’s Luizinho Faleiro,” AAP sources said.
MAIN CONTEST BETWEEN BJP AND AAP: SATYAVIJAY
Interestingly, Naik claims that “the main contest will be between the BJP and AAP.” He admitted that having lost the 2017 Navelim Assembly polls as the MGP candidate, he had rejoined the BJP campaigning for the BJP parliamentary candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Naik said that he ‘had completed almost 90 per cent door-to-door campaigning in Navelim, Telaulim, Dramapur, Sirlim, Sarzora and the Mandoppa ward in Navelim.’
“BJP has sizeable votes in the Navelim ZP constituency and we have received support from the central and State BJP government with cabinet ministers canvassing for votes in the constituency. Besides, former fisheries minister Avertano Furtado is also campaigning for BJP. Already corner meetings have been addressed by the Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant in Nagmoddem, Dongorim and Moddi wards in Navelim. Deputy Chief Ministers Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavlekar and Manohar ‘Babu’ Azgaonkar will address three BJP election corner meetings in the constituency each on Wednesday. Along with Adv Narendra Sawaikar, we have already conducted seven to eight corner meetings with three corner meetings each held at Mandoppa and Dramapur and one corner meeting held at Sirlim,” Naik said.
MY MAIN RIVALS ARE BJP AND IT’S ‘B’ TEAM; ADV PRATIMA
Coutinho said that she had already campaigned door-to-door the entire Navelim and Sarzora villages and also held corner meetings in Telaulim, Dramapur with a public meeting being held in Navelim on Wednesday evening addressed by the senior Congress leaders such as the Opposition Leader and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro, Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar and others. “I will take all four panchayats together and will work with our MLA Luizinho Faleiro and if any issues are there, I will continue my agitation and fight and get the things done for my people. BJP team and it’s ‘B’ team are my main rivals,” Coutinho quipped. She added that she had been residing in Navelim since the last 20 years to allegations by her election opponents of being a Margao voter as she is also a former Margao Municipal Council (MMC) vice- chairperson.
Interestingly, in her videos of her corner meetings that have gone viral on social media, Coutinho has refuted claims made by the Congress turned BJP legislators to the Supreme Court of the Congress party being non-existent in Goa in their response to the disqualification petition filed against the Congress defectors by the Congress. Urging voters to elect the Congress at a meeting held in Dramapur in the Velim constituency, Coutinho lashed out at the local MLA and Water Resources Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues without taking his name stating that the legislator was elected on the Congress symbol but had betrayed his voters by switching his political party. Referring to her participation in various agitations, the Congress leaders praised Coutinho as a ‘lady warrior fighting injustice in society.’
