MARGAO: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Joseph Pimenta filed his nomination for the June 23 Benaulim Zilla Panchayat (ZP) by-poll on Tuesday . His candidature was backed by the INDIA Bloc parties comprising the Congress, Goa Forward Party (GFP), Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao’s presence during the nomination filing was a strategic move to officially endorse Congress’ support for Pimenta, amid intense infighting within the party’s Benaulim unit over the decision to back his candidacy.
However other party leaders, such as Goa Congress President Amit Patkar or Benaulim block leaders, were conspicuous by their absence.
“Congress party has decided to support the AAP candidate under the INDIA Bloc banner,” said Alemao. “Whenever there is confusion amongst alliance partners, it helps the opposition. So whatever differences we have, we need to sort this out. To save democracy and fight fascist forces, we must stand united, and our cadres need to understand this. United we stand, divided we fall.”
The INDIA Bloc is expected to be retained until the 2027 State Assembly elections and are still in a euphoric mood after they won the South Goa parliamentary seat.
AAP’s Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas said, “We need to stay united and continue for Goa and Goans. We do not want to split votes. AAP had a mega rally in Benaulim on Tuesday morning before they proceeded to Margao for filing the nomination.
“The Team Goa concept, which Vijai Sardesai has been talking about since 2019, is slowly becoming a reality. We are sure this will remain and grow. Team Goa will form the government in 2027,” said GFP general secretary Durgadas Kamat.
AAP Goa Convenor Amit Palekar, who was present during the nomination filing, criticised the move of Royla Fernandes, a Congress party member, to contest the election as an independent. He felt this was tantamount to an ‘anti-party’ activity and wondered if there was a larger conspiracy behind her move, given reports that Fernandes’s candidature will be backed by a people’s front from Benaulim. Royla however claimed she was contesting purely out of love for the Congress. “We are not against the Congress, or against Congress ideology – we want that to be maintained. But the people of Benaulim believe it is necessary for democracy to remain with the people at the grassroots level, to prevent a monopoly. So, this is a new front to protect the rights of the people. The INDIA Bloc was a necessity for the Lok Sabha elections, to fight against a regime, but not at the zilla panchayat level,” said Royla.
Later, while speaking to the media, Congress President Amit Patkar said, “Our local grassroot workers from Benaulim were of the opinion that Congress should field a candidate for the ZP By-election. The tenure of this candidate will be too short. We will definitely take the views of Congress workers into consideration during the next ZP elections.”
