It’s time to track the money! Campaigning has come to an end in the State as candidates retreat to their respective camps to reassess and devise strategies for the all-important Monday. Electioneering voices have gone silent and the flow of booze dried up. It’s the time for money power to flex its muscle.
The run up to the poll have been by and large peaceful and the State, except for one stray incident of a hate speech, did not encounter any violence or clashes. On the contrary, Parties have been more involved in political maneouvering and garnering support from rebels to raise their pitch. The Goa narrative is in sharp contrast to the national scenario where pitched battled were fought and campaigns muddied with violence, clashes and hate speeches mixed with ethnic and religious slurs. If Hardik Patel is slapped on the dais while delivering a speech, there is Sadhvi Pragya who stirred Hindutva emotion taking pride in the Babri Masjid demolition and labelled the death of Hemant Karkare as karma.
The State Election Commission must be commended for playing a proactive role this time around. #GoVote and #SaveTheDate campaigns have brought about a fair amount of awareness on voting rights. Election officials rushing to Marlem-Trival a remote area in Canacona when locals threatened to boycott elections due to lack of basic facilities was testimony of the seriousness with which the SEC has approached these elections.
But a bigger challenge awaits now. The intervening period from close of campaigning to the actual election date is the most crucial in any poll, more especially in Goa. The State in the past has seen electoral equations swing drastically overnight with big money and goodies changing hands under the cover of darkness. It’s a known fact that home appliances and overhead water-storage tanks were being distributed much before the election code came into force. And it is beyond imagination how far these freebies could stretch on Monday.
The money factor becomes crucial for candidates when the math is delicately poised. Mapusa has seen a neck and neck tussle between BJP’s Joshua D’Souza and Congress’ Sudhir Kandolkar. So is the case in Shiroda where veteran Subash Shirodkar of BJP is given a tough fight by MGP’s Deepak Dhavalikar. With Congress candidate Mahadev Naik virtually giving up the chase, there is every possibility of cash flow changing the balance. In Mandrem, Babi Bagkar who initially emerged as a hot contender for Congress appears to be losing steam as BJP’s Dayanand Sopte and MGP-backed Independent Jeet Arolkar are engaged in a tight contest.
The battle-lines are very clear in a high-stake bypoll contest and it now boils down to the money power. In a make or break situation, parties will leave no stone unturned in one final push. The State Election Commission faces its biggest challenge here.
