VRISHANK MAHATME

Lack of strong and dynamic Congress candidates in this prestigious seat has meant that it has managed to win only twice in the past two decades, with the BJP consolidating their position and making it an impregnable saffron bastion.

Congress has won Panjim just twice, in 1984 and 1989, when Joao Baptista Gonsalves wrested the seat for the party. However, subsequently the Congress chose Keshav Prabhu as their candidate in 1994 and 1999 and let BJP take control of the constituency. 

The saffron brigade has managed to hold on to the Panjim seat for the past 18 years including elections in 1999, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017.

Incidentally, the numerous attempts by Congress to dislodge the BJP strongman Manohar Parrikar, by fielding various candidates, have been unsuccessful with voters visibly rejecting the Congress nominee. However, even before the ‘Manohar magic,’ Congress has never been lucky in Panjim before 1984, when it won for the first time and has had a poor run.

A look at the statistics, right from 1963, the first election, reveals that has Congress failed miserably. In the first poll, it managed to garner only 1,371 votes and subsequently did not contest in 1967.

In the 1972 elections, Congress again lost to MGP and the UGS secured just 1,580 votes. Similarly in 1977 and 1980 elections Congress managed to get just 1,981 and 1,005 votes respectively.

However, the elections of 1984 and 1989 saw baker-turned-politician and Congress candidate Joao Baptista Gonsalves romp home victorious with margins of 2,977 and 1,068 respectively, defeating the MGP and the BJP. 

But after that no political party has had any luck in stopping the BJP juggernaut, which has extended its winning streak right from 1999 to 2017, in between winning the 2002, 2007 and 2012 elections.

Seemingly with Panjim within its firm grasp, it looks unlikely that Congress or any other party can come close to upsetting the BJP’s applecart.