After the enormous hype and a huge wave of expectation, the Congress has only flattered to deceive and have gone down meekly to a resurgent BJP. While the Congress leadership was eyeing government formation and shifting its flock from one hotel to another and working out the permutations and combinations of government formation, little did they realise that they were riding on an illusion of victory that was baseless and lacked conviction.
At the outset, the party went into the election as a principal opposition and projected itself as the big brother to other contenders like Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party. Yes, Congress created a euphoria that completely belied the ground realities. When the BJP gave a clarion call that the election is about them versus the rest, it was as clear as the morning sky that the secular vote would be crucial and decisive. Given this backdrop, and with too many parties eyeing the secular vote, it would have only made sense for the Congress leadership to broker peace with parties and work out the logistics of seat-sharing.
On the contrary, the Congress which was already ravaged by internal issues underestimated parties like AAP, TMC and RG and took the plunge with a self-driven ambition of bulldozing through, without factoring in the vote split. The Navelim constituency was a perfect example of how BJP capitalized on vote split between parties.
The results indicate that either the Congress think-tank and strategists have failed to examine the larger political scenario or were extremely overconfident about themselves. The arrangement with Goa Forward may be in the interest of Vijai Sardesai and may be justified since a Congress candidate would have nibbled at votes conceding the advantage to BJP nominee Damodar Naik, but it is baffling why there was an exception only to Fatorda. Let’s not forget, the party’s fortunes were primarily hinging on minority-dominated Salcete.
The Congress managed to romp home with 11 seats, thanks to the late switch of a disgruntled Michael Lobo from the BJP. It was only because of his arrival that the grand old party managed to reach a double-digit finish bagging at least three of the Bardez seats. The party would have ended on a bizarre note had it not been for the seats in the north.
While the dust settles on the election, Congress must introspect hard on this failure. One doesn’t understand the need to create a super hype of victory, move up and down Delhi, indulge in hotel politics and issue diktats to candidates not to visit counting centres. The leadership is setting a poor example to the several new faces in the party that have ushered in a refreshing change by overtly indulging in theatrics and false perceptions. It’s time for those at the helm to take responsibility and step down and allow a new Congress to take shape. The party must now focus on being a people’s watchdog, and a feisty but constructive opposition to the government in the Legislative Assembly.
