Says he had just seven days to cover the entire constituency
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: A good showing if not an outright victory would have been certainly an icing on the cake as he celebrated his birthday on Friday.
But, the drubbing he received in the Lok sabha election is Churchill Alemao’s worst ever electoral debacle in his political career spanning three decades. The two-time former MP and Trinamool Congress candidate could manage to garner only 11941 votes in the husting as against his expectation to poll minimum 40,000 vote.
Poll results show that the former PWD Minister could manage to cross the four-figure mark only in the two segments of Benaulim (3483 votes) and Navelim, where he polled 2459 votes. In the remaining segments, where he expected minimum 1000 vote each in each of the 19 segments, he was placed well down the ladder, in some segments behind Aam Admi candidate Swati Kerkar and Independent candidate, Govind Gawde. So much so, that in the segments such as Nuvem, Cortalim, Vasco and Cuncolim where he enjoyed a sizeable following, Churchill came a cropper.
In Velim, where the Trinamool Congress was expected to put up a better performance, the former MP could poll only 986 votes.
But, as he took time off to field queries from the media on the phone, Churchill said he has no idea what exactly had gone wrong from him in the election.
He, however, asserted that the Lok sabha result is not a setback for his political career, disclosing plans to continue in politics on the Trinamool Congress banner.
‘I do not think that polling 11941 votes is a setback for me. What do you have to say about the Congress which has suffered a humiliating rout across the country?
I am just a small fry in politics. I had just seven days with me to cover the entire constituency,” he said, adding “there are ups and downs in politics. What do you have to say of the Congress taking a lead in Navelim and Benaulim.”
