TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Will the Lotus bloom in Benaulim in the April 12 Lok Sabha poll? This question is staring at Benaulikars with the BJP making a determined bid to garner votes in the minority heartland in coordination with the anti-Churchill and anti-Congress forces.
Ask Benaulim MLA Caitu Silva, the Goa Vikas Party MLA, on Narendra Sawaikar’s prospects along the coastal belt, and he replies with confidence that the BJP will pocket a good percentage of votes in the constituency this time round.
In fact, the Benaulim MLA and his supporters, including some of the sarpanchas, panchs besides other citizens, have pledged support to the BJP when Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar along with candidate Narendra Sawaikar descended in Colva during the weekend.
Against the backdrop of a strident campaign launched by the Congress projecting the BJP a communal party, Parrikar, sources said, is believed to have allayed fears in the minds of the participants on the issue.
“The BJP is portrayed as communal no sooner the Election Commission announces any election. Have we done anything wrong to the minorities during our two year long stint in Goa. Have my government not got the IFFI festival dates changed to avoid a clash on the feast day of St Francis Xavier”, Parrikar asked the participants.
And, the CM tried to woo the participants towards the BJP by drawing their attention to the budgetary provision made by his government for the St Francis Xavier Exposition and not mention the solution worked out by his government on the sensitive Medium of Instruction (MoI) policy.
Says Caitu: “The BJP has not set any target for us, but all would work hard to ensure the BJP gets a record percentage of votes. Parrikar has also promised to usher in the development of the coastal belt”.
But, many in the Caitu camp are sceptical about the Lotus blooming in Benaulim.
But, Independent MLA Vijai Sardesai, who has taken charge of the Congress candidate’s election campaign, exuded confidence that the people of Benaulim will not allow the Lotus to bloom along Salcetes’ coastal belt.
“Though the Congress may face a dearth of workers, our source of strength is the voters, who will voluntarily come out to vote against the communal forces. People of Benaulim had given a decisive verdict in the historic Opinion Poll by not saying no to Goa’s merger. The same people will not allow the Lotus to bloom. Secular forces will emerge triumphant in Benaulim”, he asserted.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha poll, then Benaulim MLA and Minister, Mickky Pacheco had openly supported the BJP, but the party candidate had managed to poll 3000-plus votes. The 2014 Lok Sabha poll indeed throws up a challenge to the political players, especially against the background that Benaulim had voted for a parivartan in the 2012 Assembly polls.
