MARGAO:  Rosalito Coelho, a senior citizen was in the queue at a bank at Aquem, Margao as we were discussing a Facebook share of the number of votes per constituency in the Opinion Poll of 1967, Rosalito remembered how he was just 13 years old and with his siblings and friends he walked from Aquem to Davorlim and beyond reminding women to go and vote.

“These two leaves symbols were given to us and I walked towards Davorlim and Rumdamol and women were working in the fields, I reminded them to stop their work and go vote for anti-merger and they rushed to vote. They also gave me some sweet potatoes to take home and boil and those were a treat to eat celebrating the victory of the anti-merger,” asserted Rosalito.

Rosalito said that  history can never take way the fact that Salcete won the anti-merger for Goa singlehandedly with huge vote margins.

Similar to Rosalito, Zico remembers how the Sequeira and Lima Leitao families and the Sarmalkars post lunch on that date moved across Salcete and got people out of their homes to go and vote and what saved Goa from being merged with Maharashtra.

“I was a young lad and near Holy Spirit Church, we were sitting in front of my friend’s home. All night of 

January 15, 1967, we didn’t sleep. We were just roaming and roaming and reminding people to go and vote for anti-merger, on January 16 also we voted early morning and then continued to go around and get people to go and vote. We remember Jack Sequeira, his son, Urminda and her husband and many others toiled and Salcete made our dream of keeping Goa separate very successful,” asserts Dr Carmo Gracias.

Dr Carmo remembers January 19 better, the day the results were declared and the massive party they danced at in Varca at a friend’s home and how the celebration of the anti-merger just didn’t end.

“We won in Navelim, Cortalim, Curtorim, Cuncolim, and Benaulim in big margins. I cast my vote at Malkarnem, Sanguem since I was a government servant and I was the returning officer of the polls then. People came from near and wide and far on foot to vote. No phones, no internet, no messaging but people came and people were brought on foot. In Sanguem, though the majority Bahujan samaj wanted merger but still more than one-third voted for anti-merger which was surprise. Also the trend was known by Jan 18 and the celebrations were amazing as Goa was carved out,” remember Curtorim’s renowned historian Rafael Viegas.

Rafael till today, many decades later says, across the Zuari in the heart of Salcete, people love and will always be emotional about Goa and care for the degradation its going through today. Rafael gets a little harsh and says, the two leaves survived and the merger’s lotus and lion symbol was drowned in the river Zuari, which is our pride always.

Shridhar Assoldekar another senior citizen looks into the census of 1961 and tells us that the voting pattern based on religion was similar then and now but Goans placed everything else above themselves and their faith and voted for Goa. He also asks when Goa will ever unite similarly to vote out the corruption.

Shridhar also tells us post Opinion Poll result how Benaulim created history in Assembly election by electing Luta Ferrao on a MG ticket when UG fielded Dr Wilfred D' Souza from Calangute on UG ticket. But he attributes all that to the Jan Shakti of people which he feels is lacking in today’s times.

Even in Mumbai, the Goans  despite being in Maharashtra, then threw a party at the Taj Hotel at Gateway of India after knowing the Opinion Poll results.