Anything can be read into the record turn-out on Saturday, but what can be said with a fair degree of certainty is that the effort to bring more people out of their houses to cast their votes has been a success. In all around 82.23 per cent of the electorate cast their vote for the Assembly elections, which is slightly above 2012 which recorded a turn-out of 81.73 per cent. Credit for this goes to the election commission which ran an effective campaign with a number of ambassadors. While political parties did their bit to encourage at least their voters to come out and cast their ballots, it is the people of Goa who deserve a pat on the back for breaking another record.
Generally speaking, the turn out tends to be lower in the talukas of Mapusa, where the BJP has high stakes, Tiswadi where the fates of Babush Monserrate and Manohar Parrikar will be decided and Salcete, which the Congress needs to win convincingly in order to gain enough momentum to form the next government. It is in the interior talukas or the new conquests that voting tends to be higher because people there are more dependent on the government. And it is here that the fate of the BJP will be decided. This time too, these talukas lived up to their reputation for near complete participation in the democratic process and it is because of them that the overall percentage crossed the 2012 mark.
Goa has spoken and it has spoken strongly. While it is difficult and almost impossible to ascertain the secret locked in EVM machines, the message that such a large turn-out sends is clear -- Goans want to participate in the democratic process because they have something to say. Secondly they have proved, yet again, that politicians can be trused. And this is good for the State and the future government which will have to make something of this intent.
