Team Herald
PANJIM: The State Assembly elections will see one family torn asunder while an attempt is being made to create discord in another family. This is in quite contrast to the 2012 elections where “family raj” was out in full glory.
In Cortalim, late Matanhy Saldanha’s family is caught in a battle. His widow Alina Saldanha, who is a minister in the current cabinet, is set to seek a second term as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate. However, challenging her is late Matanhy’s nephew Olencio Simoes as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate.
Saldanha, who was elected unopposed following the death of her husband, has failed to emulate her late husband as a representative of the people. In fact, she was silent even when the Environment portfolio was taken away from her even though this was one subject very dear and sacrosanct to her late husband.
Capitalising on her failure to take off from where Matanhy had left, Simoes, who is Matanhy’s sister’s son, tried to fit into the late firebrand leader’s shoes and initially became the General Secretary of Goenchea Ramponnkarancho Ekvott, an organisation started by Matanhy. Simoes also got elected as the vice president of National Fishworkers Forum, again an organisation that was set up by Matanhy. He also brought all those involved in the fishing industry together under the All Goa Fishermen Union and has thus emerged as a leader of the fishing community.
The battle between him and Saldanha is set to get very intense and maybe acrimonious too. At the ground level Simoes appears to have got the backing of all sections that were supporting Matanhy while Alina has to depend upon the BJP and its new member Mauvin Godinho.
On the other hand, the Congress, by recommending Jennifer Monserrate to be the party’s candidate in Taleigao appears to be all set to fish in troubled waters as Jennifer’s husband Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate was expelled by the Congress and since then has launched his own party the United Goans Party.
It will be back to the “family raj” of yore if the Congress has an alliance with the United Goans Party and the Monserrate couple will be candidates of the same side. This will be a repeat of 2012 elections where Joaquim Alemao was the Congress candidate and his son Yuri Alemao was the Nationalist Congress Party candidate in two different constituencies.
“Family Raj” is back on course in 2017 as both the Rane’s will be the Congress choice in their respective constituencies, just as the Dhavalikar brothers will be the MGP candidates in their respective constituencies.
The Congress appears all set to launch another family in politics as it nominates three times MLA Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar to be its candidate in Quepem and his wife Savitri in neighbouring Sanguem.
Interestingly politicians’ kin who faced defeat in 2012 like Valanka Alemao, Yuri Alemao and Dhaku Madkaikar are rather silent this time around.
