The trend was clear when the first round of results of the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections were declared – the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had surged ahead, but close on its heels were the Independents, keeping Congress and the other political parties far behind. In subsequent rounds of counting, the Independents faltered a good bit though in the final tally they came as the second main group after the BJP, and the other opposition parties were left scrambling to save themselves from being wiped out, as BJP waltzed to comfortable wins in both ZPs. The party is now set to head both the district bodies without any challenge from the Opposition.
Elections to local governing bodies generally see the ruling party surge forward, often purely due to an impression created in the people that there is a better chance of development in their constituency if their representative belongs to the party in power or owes allegiance to the local MLA. This could possibly have led to voters in most ZP constituencies deciding to cast their vote for the BJP, however, it was not the case just about everywhere across the State. The Opposition managed to chisel tiny dents in the BJP victory map, but at the end of the day they had nothing worth crowing about, as they were far behind the victors.
For the BJP, this is the best possible election result that the party could have hoped for as a rather disastrous year comes to an end. The months of agitations across the State against the three linear projects, the government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, the failing economic situation, the Mhadei water diverson appear to have not affected the ruling party’s popularity in the State, as the people voted overwhelmingly for the party, returning 33 BJP candidates in both ZPs. Even in constituencies where the anti-coal sentiment was high – as for instance Cortalim, Guirdolim and Davorlim – it was the BJP-backed and the BJP candidates respectively that came through.
So when Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant says the people ‘have reposed faith in BJP no matter what people say’, is clearly referring to the anti-coal lobby when he states this, the results of the ZP polls call for an introspection of the issues currently plauging Goa, and how they should be addressed. For that matter, elections in Goa have seldom been won on such emotive issues, and this result is further evidence of this.
If BJP is able to hold on to the electorate in this manner for the next 18 months, then the party goes to the State Assembly elections, due in early 2022, with a distinct advantage over the scattered Opposition, that does not appear to be able to find common ground to come together. This election was billed as a semi-final to the Assembly polls. The result is a big boost to the BJP and an strident wake-up call to the Opposition parties that will now have to rethink their strategies if they expect to make a comeback in the State and play a wider role in the political arena.
The advantage of the BJP has always been the work that the karyakartas put in on the ground, which the Opposition parties do not. The ZP election result is a clear reflection on the low turnout, whereby the BJP ensured that their core voters took this election seriously and went out to vote, while the Opposition rested, hoping that their voters would get out to the polling booth. Of course there also was a split in the Opposition vote and this will play a major role in 2022. For now, it is advantage BJP and Pramod Sawant, before the next battle, when the municipal councils vote in 2021.
