The filing of nominations for BJP and Congress turned out to be a show of strength as candidates accompanied by legislators, party leaders, functionaries and supporters marched to respective centres making it a “band-baaja-baaraat” affair and setting a new benchmark in electoral politics of Goa. The Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) too walked in with pomp backed by people from different walks of life and football in tow.
Both BJP and Congress have approached the nomination day differently. While the BJP has certainly flexed muscle parading all the MLAs literally sidelining their candidate, the Congress displayed alliance unity with leaders of different hues coming on a common platform and vouching for Capt Viriato Fernandes.
The din of the nomination day goes to show how intense the contest is going to be and what is at stake, but apart from that, it has created an illusion masquerading the intricacies parties are grappling with in the background. The easy wins that both BJP and Congress have been propagating remain a myth in the context where both went for muscle flexing on nomination day.
Underneath the haze and showmanship, there is a lot of number-crunching happening and there are major turf wars lined up. Earlier this week, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, while on his Salcete sortie, exuded confidence in the BJP legislators doing the magic for candidate Pallavi Dempo. In fact, he literally spelt out the math constituency-wise announcing that leaders will respond with certain percentage votes.
Indirectly, it was a target set, and there is no denying that those representing the BJP are under tremendous pressure to deliver, which is why even the Congress-turned-saffron legislators are not leaving any stone unturned, even in bastions which don’t belong to the BJP.
On the flip side, Congress succeeded in its first test — forging unity with allies. On paper at least, all partners seem solidly rallying behind Capt Viriato after burying differences. The ‘josh’ was evident on the nomination day with leaders like Vijai Sardesai and Capt Venzy Viegas rolling up their sleeves for the big contest. But unity alone will not help the Congress. Capt Viriato holds fire and has been the unifying factor in the run-up to the poll with lines like “five Pandavas and people enough to drive away Modi’s army.” The Congress candidate will however have a herculean task in areas where the party doesn’t have a hold and representation. Also, it will have to grapple with the damage created by the RGP. The marked difference between BJP and Congress is about fixing accountability.
There is no denying that the Lok Sabha election is headed for an interesting contest. There is a new-found 'josh' in the Congress camp which is propelled by the allies, there is confidence in the BJP side fuelled by the strength of legislators it has in its ranks, and there is determination with the RGP to expand its reach. Besides, this election has a mix of new and old faces, and candidates with contrasting backgrounds and approaches. The bugle of nominations signals the starting point of a keenly contested Lok Sabha election.
