Team Herald
Margao: Two of the most hotly pursued protest grounds of the anti-coal and double-tracking agitation have been won by the BJP.
Guirdolim and Davorlim have been won by the BJP leaving one to wonder if this might cause a dent to this agitation on the electoral politics in Salcete.
Chandor-Guirdolim was the hotbed of the agitation and saw one of the largest protests gatherings of recent times against the Coal hub and double-tracking. The movement spread its tentacles into Goa even up to Molem through Chandor-Guirdolim protests.
The protests however seemed to have had scant effect on the voting pattern of the people from Guirdoilm as the BJP Candidate has triumphed in the election.
Sanjana Sanjay Velip won the election after securing 4690 votes. She defeated the Congress candidate Sonia Fernandes who was very active during the agitation by a margin of 607 votes.
Interestingly, the entire array of Congress leaders and even the Aam Aadmi Party descended onto the Chandor level crossing and protested against the projects. It hasn’t translated into votes for either the Congress or the AAP who fielded Rodolfina Vaz as their candidate.
The Opposition Leader Digambar Kamat said, “The agitation did not translate into votes. I was expecting a much larger percentage of voters as there was resentment. Many thought that the effect of agitation would have been different”.
Another village that saw a lot of police action agitation and midnight vigils against the Coal and double-tracking was Davorlim. Protests turned into furious agitation where cases were filed against several persons for obstructing Government work. However. Ulhas Tuenkar of the BJP defeated both the Congress and several other Independents with a sizeable 1593 votes. Compared to the voting percentage of other Salcete areas Davorlim had a higher percentage.
The BJP President Sadanand Tanawade said that the agitations were being done by people not from those localities but from other areas of Goa and that the people have voted for the agenda of development put forth by the BJP.
The Goa Forward Party President Vijai Sardesai however said “coal and double-tracking are very much related and there is resentment against the Government due to these factors. No one in the Opposition party took this election seriously,” he said.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant said, “There is no harm in protesting as it is the right of every citizen. However, we have got the vote for the development of Goa and whoever wants development can join in and strengthen the Government in developing Goa,” said the Chief Minister.
