neshwin@herald-goa.com
It’s 6 pm and as this reporter rides along the straight road from Quepem to Balli through Ambaulim, Godkhem, Odnem and Fatorpa, members of the Velip and Gawda communities are seen with piles of sticks, baskets of radish, coconuts and a sickle, making their way home.
The constituency has a major ST population and the script in Paroda, Quepem, Betul and Fatorpa, has been the same. Earlier, the three-time former MLA Prakash Shankar Velip was defeated on three occasions by Chandrakant Babu Kavalekar, the sitting MLA. From Prakash to Babu and previously Voikunt Dessai, Quepem seems to give its MLA three terms before it dumps them. So will history be repeated in Quepem?
“In Quepem, there are no jobs or industry. It’s the same story — work in the fields or run a dairy or earlier go and work in the mines, return in the evening, gamble at the tinto, come home, no proper electricity so sleep early. So the kids play in the mud since the schools are in a dilapidated condition as there are no grounds to play except one at Tilamol,” explains Jayram Velip, who takes us around Odnem. The streets have LED lights but are not yet connected and as such the entire place is in darkness.
Similarly, Joseph Dias of the Kunbi community tells us that Babu does have a personal connect and helps in getting schemes and all but Babu lacks visionary skills to change the lifestyle in Quepem.
“Last time Babu fought, Prakash Shankar was a rebel after the BJP gave the ticket to the MGP and Arjun Velip contested. UGDP had veteran Manuel Colaco, 6-time Quepem Municipal councillor and Babu emerged winner with 10,994 votes. We too aspire for the BJP ticket but all of us need to unite with the one who is allotted the ticket to defeat Babu,” explains Yogesh Kunkolienkar, brother of industrialist Nitin Kunkolienkar, who also aspires for the BJP ticket besides Prakash Shankar Velip, who is back as BJP vice president.
Manuel Colaco quit as AAP candidate citing health issues.
The suspense continues as to who will get the BJP ticket since the party has over four aspirants and with the MGP also breaking the anti-incumbency vote could ensure Babu’s easy win.
But Babu feels that his Babu-dom will continue in Quepem. “My work and my dedication are all year round and my connection with my people is what will make me win the poll. Polls are not seasonal; I continue to be in contact with the people,” stated Babu, whose wife Savitri is the likely Congress candidate in Sanguem.
But many Quepemkars especially the Dhangar and Velip community are concerned over the fact that most forest lands, which are converted into settlements and orchards, are being developed into plots with roads allegedly being ripped into these forest and plots being sold to non-Goans for farmhouses. The Velips depend on cashews, mangoes and coconuts for a living but the land conversion and increasing laterite mining has raised concerns among the Quepem residents.
