The elections dates are out, but for parties in Goa it is still early days. The battle lines are yet to be drawn for the Lok Sabha election and bypoll with the picture on candidates still hazy. The Aam Aadmi Party had already announced their candidates for the Lok Sabha elections around a fortnight back and has decided to ignore the bypoll. The Congress is still going through its conventional process of shortlisting candidates through the High Command channel while the BJP, backed by its coalition partners, is battle-ready with its sitting MPs “ Shripad Naik and Narendra Sawaikar.
However, the focus and buzz of activity will be around the bypoll in Shiroda, Mandrem and Mapusa. The Goa narrative precariously hangs on the outcomes of these three constituencies. The BJP is clear in their choices of Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte, despite all the threats of rebellion it has been facing. In Mapusa, the odds are inclined towards Joshua D’Souza, son of former Dy Chief Minister Late Francis D’Souza. However, former president of Mapusa Municpal Council and currently a councilor, Sudhir Kandolkar with his popularity, also remains a strong contender for the BJP ticket. BJP will have to make a tough decision, knowing well that Joshua carries a similar sympathy that Alina Saldanha had when Matanhy passed away. To make matters worse, there are parties watching the Mapusa scene closely, waiting to capitalize on any fallout.
In Mandrem, Congress recruit Dayanand Sopte has been the choice for BJP. With former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar spewing venom and threatening to contest as an Independent despite the intervention by central leaders, the party is left with no option but to virtually make it a BJP versus Parsekar contest. An MGP candidate can only eat into Sopte’s advantage.
In Shiroda, the field is wide open with BJP failing to stall the march of the MGP. Subhash Shirodkar, who starts off as favourite, may find the going tough with a three-cornered contest. MGP’s Deepak Dhavalikar who had a head start in campaigning is expected to eat into Shirodkar’s votes, besides the party’s own share of votes of around 5,000, giving the Congress candidate an indirect advantage.
While parties have swung into campaign mode much before the Election Commission could flag off the poll process, the Congress is still caught up with scrutiny of its candidates. Factors like winnability, new and old faces, acceptability, money power and a high-command culture have always been impediments in the selection process. The EC has blown the poll bugle, but the irony is that Congress is still undecided on who will take on the field.
