The results of the municipal polls are out and the BJP has a very good reason to celebrate. Of the 11 cities that went to the polls, eight elected BJP-supported panels. The ruling party posted comfortable wins in seven municipal areas and wrested the eighth one -- Canacona, by a sleigh of hand. The Congress, which seems to be on a decline, came away with three. The Digambar Kamat-Vijai Sardessai combine wrested Margao and made Damu Naik eat humble pie. The loss has placed a very big question mark on the political future of Naik, who has failed for the second time. The polls established Sardessai as a force to reckon with in Fatorda.
Margao was a hot spot for the polls with both Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar throwing their political weight behind the Damu panel. In Quepem it was Babu Kavelekar who defied all odds to emerge as winner, proving that three-and-half years in the opposition has not diminished his political clout and Vishwajit Rane retained his grip over the Valpoi municipal council. Sadly, the Congress as a political party can hardly claim to be part of the success because it was conspicuous by its absence. The top leadership of the party had virtually abandoned the polls on the flimsy excuse that it did not support interference of political parties in municipal elections.
The BJP has done well to retain and extend its hold on eight cities. The only setbacks it suffered were in Cuncolim where Joaquim Alemao's panel emerged victorious, a sign that 2017 might be not be the same as 2012, at least here. On the other hand the BJP wrested Bicholim from the sitting MLA, Naresh Sawal and quickly stamped its mark on Canacona by engineering a 'defection' in favour of Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar. Of course it might sulk over the loss of Margao and its inability to humiliate Kamat, because it was in Margao that it faced its toughest battle -- avenging the 'betrayal' of 2004.
The results of the election show that the BJP cannot be written off as a spent force. It might not have the anti-Congress wave to ride on in 2017, but those who think it is on the decline can do so at their own peril. Baring Subhash Naik from Cuncolim, party MLAs who oversaw elections in their constituencies have not lost their hold. Part of the problem lies with the Congress which is still to get its act together. Rane, Kamat and Kavelakar came across as strong political personalities, but the Congress as a party seems leaderless and at war with itself. If the municipal polls have proved one thing it is that these three individuals must play a leading role in reviving the party. Because without these three leaders at the helm of affairs it would be very difficult for the Congress to paint the BJP as an inefficient and out-of-touch political party. And those who pointed fingers at Parsekar and predicted that the BJP would decline under his rule, will have to do a serious re-think. The unpretentious MLA from Mandrem is proving to be quite a shrewd politician and it is time the Congress took him seriously.
