PRABHAKAR TIMBLE
The Lotus gets the pedes tal once again on the South and the North Goa Zilla Panchayats. Despite the public out cry on the Arpora inferno which resulted in 25 deaths exposing the corruption and the state of stinking governance, the BJP voter refrained from express ing the anger through the ballot. People are agitated with the cash-for-jobs scams, unemploy ment and the dete riorating law and order situation in the State but these roaring voices on the streets turn feeble at polling stations. Goans perceive the massive land transfers as the ‘sale of Goa’ to out siders. However, this sensitivity and emotion has not got converted into a vote against the ruling party. At the same time, a dissection of the results shows anti-incumbency for the ruling dispensation. The vic tory of the BJP is not with convinc ing and confident margins except in the constituencies coming under Sattari taluka. It is quite a mysterious brand of “democratic” politics. In this belt, a single individual takes control of a diverse flock or the people meekly surrender before a person whom they regard as the political “messiah”. This could be out of love or fear or favours. I do not wish to go into this further. Do the Zilla Panchayat results provide any pointers to whether the BJP could be dislodged in 2027? Or is the BJP unbeatable? Though the power has gone in the hands of the BJP, the Opposition need not sulk due to limited success. For the Congress party, it was a total of 4 constituencies of North and South in 2020. Today, they stand at around 11. All the nine constituencies of Salcete stood with the opposition, with the Congress winning in eight. No doubt, the candi date in Raia constituency was under the Goa Forward sym bol. It would not have mattered if the symbol was the Hand. The other opposition parties i.e. GFP and AAP have one seat each in the Zilla Panchayat while RGP has won two. Except for the win of the BJP supported Independent candidate in Cortalim, the other 3 Independent candidates have fought against the BJP. No individual party has the strength and the organisa tional base to defeat the BJP is the clear lesson emerging from the Zilla Panchayat results. The unity should go much beyond seat sharing. The united fight should be visible in political agitations and campaigning. Otherwise, it cannot enthuse and boost the confidence of the anti-BJP voices in the electorate. “Friendly fights” and alliance are opposites. Both cannot have a place in the same basket. The Congress and the Goa Forward need to take note of this from their Corlim and the Morjim experiment. I need to add that the Goa Forward did a high voltage campaign in all the nine constituencies which they contested. Except in Canacona and Maem, they jumped to contest without a cadre or party organisation. Luck was not on their side; they missed the win in Poinguinim and Rivona. However, they fought ex tremely well and did smart political management including the local politicians who mattered. A non-BJP voter is looking for a one-to-one fight to gain value for his vote. Further, the political opposition should take note that merely a party vote is not good enough to defeat the BJP candidate. Along with the party vote, the choice of the candidate is equally important. Candidates who contested as independents from Curti, Arambol, Betqui-Candola, Colvale, Colva, Sanvordem, Latambar cem, Karapur-Sarvan had high potential to win under a party ticket. An alliance of confidence between the Congress and the RGP could have boosted the chances in Calangute, Anjuna, Siolim, Shiroda and Cortalim for the opposition. The soon er the so called “Congress cadre” realise this, it is better for their party and for Goa. Otherwise, the Congress voters and sympathisers would make the party irrelevant. I give full marks to the Goa Forward Party for their su perb public relations. In the TV debates on the counting day, they sold the idea that the lion’s share of victory of the Congress party in some Salcete constituencies is due to their sweating and planning. The TV media channels bought this idea sold by the public relation managers of the outfit without any hesitation. As usual, the Congress is gripped by some sickness and finds no reason to celebrate their success, though limited. AAP may have their own reasons for going alone. Prob ably, they wanted to test the waters and also gain space or sell their narrative. Apart from Velim, Benaulim, Colva, Nuvem and Chimbel, they are not considered as an option by the electorate. The votes polled by AAP could be under stood considering these are the territories of their MLAs. However, the voting figures have put the two MLAs under a cloud. The more AAP storms more constituencies, their sitting MLAs are likely to turn more unsafe. The BJP will definitely take up the exercise of under standing the mood of the electorate despite winning 32 seats and holding the reins of power. This same wisdom has to percolate amongst the political opposition. What is expected from the opposition is united effort, not just seat sharing on the eve of elections and divided working. The opposition should desist from window dressing by packing ticket aspirants on the eve of elections assuming them to be winnable. Make an honest attempt to provide the people’s candidate for 2027. The opposition and Goa will see magic happen. (The writer is the former state election commissioner and political commentator
