And while on principle this appears to be a brave decision and a giant leap, it is indeed a leap into the unknown.
It has taken a decision to do battle in 2017 without any “friends”, but has it asked itself if there is indeed an “alliance” of minds, issues and leaders from within the party? Two former Chief Ministers who will surely be contesting the elections have indicated that they will plunge headlong into the campaign and even “contribute”, if you know what that means, if they are made Chief Ministers.
It is no secret that the Congress is actually depending on the largesse of leaders who want positions and power if the party pulls off a miracle. Otherwise it’s “to each his own”.
The Goa Congress is still depending on its regional satraps to get them some seats on their own accord, with the party merely giving them the cushion of a ticket. So if Ravi Naik is actually ahead in Ponda, and it is the BJP’s latest internal survey which says so, the Congress party has played no part in this. Local anti-incumbency against the sitting MLA Lavoo Mamledar, is helping Naik, whose graph had plummeted during the Lok Sabha elections.
In Sattari and neighbouring areas Vishwajit Rane has taken upon himself to hold a mini Assembly election where he will dominate ticket distribution in Valpoi, Poriem and Mayem. It is still unclear if Senior Mr Rane will contest the elections, but Junior Rane has clearly stated that he will brook no interference from the state Congress, in who he chooses. So the Congress is virtually hapless against such regional arrogance, because it is in no position to counter this, having outsourced its success to some regional leaders. And this will come back to haunt them.
The Sattari Yuva Manch is this far an innocuous youth movement, but in effect it is nothing but a thinly veiled political outfit which will be used by Junior Rane to bargain for positions in a post poll scenario. Rane Junior has clearly declared that he doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of power any longer, but obviously to “develop his area”. So even if he pulls off two seats, there’s no guarantee that they will be Congress seats.
Then, there is Pandurang Madakaikar, Congress’ Cumbharjua MLA who will accept the BJP membership and subsequently the party ticket.
In addition to two of Vishwajit’s seats of the three he is expected to win from Valpoi, Poriem and Mayem, and Madkaikar’s seat, the Congress is has further lost two MLA’s – Mauvin Godinho and Babush Monserrate.
So as it discards alliances, it does not effectively have six seats, where MLAs who did not win on BJP tickets in 2012, would come to power.
It is only when you are sure of these seats, where your party MLAs are ready to work overtime to win and also influence other seats, that you can afford to do away with other anti BJP forces. Sadly those in Delhi do not understand that with much smaller constituencies and with such small vote differences, a heavily splintered anti-BJP vote will help no one. Unless of course the Congress says that it is not here to win in 2017, but build a party for the next elections. In the unlikely possibility of the Congress saying so, the party must understand the ramifications of this decision to go solo.
