On this Friday morning as the sun rose over paddy fields and village ponds in Goa, a sense of winning and losing hung like a mist over Goa’s landscape.
The counting of votes was over, a winner was found, there would be a government formation without any birth pangs that a fractured mandate throws up. And yet across many parts of Goa there was a sense of belied expectations, about a loss which was uncalled for. The loss of a chance for Congress to govern Goa again.
Much as the verdict of 2022 is about the BJP’s prediction defying victory, it is also about the loss for the Congress. The Congress anticipation of victory was much more than even in 2017 when they won 17 seats. 2022 was about the Congress positioning itself to win due to a strong perceived resentment against the ruling BJP. Then the field was wide open. The shadow of shoddy COVID management and the oxygen shortage linked deaths at GMC, the people’s agitation against the three linear projects, the numerous agitations against the spillage of coal on railway tracks, the state of the economy and absence of self-employment, the destruction of the environment were ready-made issues. But the Congress failed on three big counts and some others. We will look at the major ones, for now.
n Haphazard candidate selection knowing very well how the credibility and popularity of individual candidates matters. Benjamin Silva as the Congress candidate would have found acceptability. When he was changed at the last moment and Savio D’Silva was given the ticket, the Congress lost its ground by this alone. TMC too made a disastrous decision pulling out Antonio Clovis Da Costa and roping Benjamin Congress. Benjamin Silva as a TMC candidate wasn’t acceptable and finally came third. In Benaulim, the Congress rejected better candidates and selected Antonio (Tony) Dias, rejected by the TMC, after TMC managed to rope in Churchill Alemao. Both Dias and Alemao lost giving the seat to AAP’s Venzy Viegas. In St Andre, Savio Monteiro had the support of several sarpanchas and many panchas but the ticket went to Anthony Fernandes. This led to a lot of Congress votes being transferred to Revolutionary Goans
n It has no pan Goa leader. While Digambar Kamat has been the leader of the opposition and the undisputed leader in Margao he has been unable to get the Congress to win even in neighbouring Fatorda (before the alliance with GFP). The Congress lost all seats in Salcete barring his and Cuncolim and Nuvem. The latter two cannot really be attributed to Kamat’s efforts. Barring Altone Da Costa in Quepem, Kamat could not deliver Congress bastion seats like Curtorim, Benaulim and Navelim. In Bardez, it was Michael Lobo’s “acquisition” which got the party Calangute, Siolim, and Saligao seats, while the Aldona seat is entirely due to almost two years of grassroots work by Carlos Ferreira. The Congress in Goa has no political patronage for party men and people to go to for help and guidance.
n Thirdly, in spite of oath-taking in religious places and signing of affidavits promising not to defect, and not taking defectors into the party, it has turned out that that the Congress still didn’t manage to win over the full trust of the people that its MLAs would not leave and join any other party after the elections, not when the Congress decided to huddle its candidates in a Bambolim resort and moved then to a hotel in Margao.
The RG factor and how it helped the BJP to win much more sets than it would have
The Revolutionary Goans with funding apparently coming from offshore London managed to sell its Goa for Goans pitch in a manner in which the base of not just Congress but other parties strong in their areas. The overall result was that the BJP benefitted and won those seats because of the votes RG took away from BJP’s rivals. It is widely understood that the BJP backed, supported and reportedly even oiled and fed this exercise.
The RGP votes in Priol, Ponda and Bicholim hampered the MGP with Priol and Ponda going to BJP and Bicholim going to independent Chandrakant Shetye who was as good as a BJP candidate.
In Curtorim the RG candidate came third with 3,479 votes and got 15.58 percent of the vote share while Congress’ Moreno Rebello who came in second place got 17.49 percent of the vote share. RG was a big contributor to Reginaldo’s victory. And look at the end result. Reginaldo has backed the BJP and will be part of the BJP-led government.
In Navelim, RGP’s candidate Benta Da Silva finished in sixth place and managed to take 9.78 per cent of the vote share, a significant contributor, to the non-BJP split making BJP get its first-ever MLA from Navelim.
Shiroda is a classic case of how RG’s votes made the BJP win. Shaliesh Naik of RG got over 5000 votes, while the second-placed AAP got 6000 plus votes. This resulted in BJP’s Subhash Shirodkar winning with 8000 votes. If the votes got by RG had consolidated behind AAP (here the Congress was too weak), AAP and not BJP would have won this seat.
No one really understood this game plan. And BJP is laughing all the way to the Assembly with its secret benefactor, Revolutionary Goans Party splitting major chunks of opposition votes. The data is too clear and evident.
The BJP’s independent and bowing to regional family satraps worked
The BJP smartly fielded Antonio Vaz in Cortalim, in spite of having its own candidate, with Dr Chandrakant Shetye in Bicholim though its senior leader Rajesh Patnekar contesting and the support it always expected from Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco while fielding its own candidate, was ultimately got.
The BJP’s election machinery had only one goal to win. Look at the way it risked a lot of anger from its core cadre by giving Babush and Jennifer Monserrate tickets in Panjim and Taleigao and then appeased senior Congressman Pratapsingh Rane by giving him a lifetime cabinet status, paving the way for his retirement allowing Vishwajit Rane to field his wife from Poriem, (without she having to contest against her father-in-law) giving BJP two seats in the kitty.
The BJP is expected to now work for the people and deliver for them first
Having won the State comprehensively, the BJP is expected to keep people first, listen to them when they raise their voices, especially when it comes to protecting Goa’s diversity and environment, they should look at the zero benefit to Goa if Goa becomes a hub of coal transportation, they should rise above party interest and fight for Goa’s interest when it comes to its rightful share of the Mhadei waters
Finally, BJP has won and credit has to be given to the winner. At the same time, this was an election for the Congress to lose and they have done just that giving BJP it’s third successive term, which will leave Congress out of power for 15 years from 2012 to 2027.
