SEC shock: Raia candidates scramble as ZP seat reserved for ST women

Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai inducting Luis Quadros, the party’s original candidate for the Raia ZP seat.

MARGAO
A corrigendum issued by the State Election Commissioner Menino D’Souza a day ago appeared simple – that the Raia Zilla Panchayat constituency reserved for an ST candidate has now been reserved for Women (ST).
On the ground, however, the notification has had a devastating effect, as it has unsettled contesting candidates, upsetting their poll calculations after they kicked off their election campaign in right earnest. Husbands who had set their eyes on the coming polls have been left with no option but to get their wives to throw their hat in the election ring. Mainstream political parties too seemed in a last-minute rush to scout for potential and formidable women candidates to contest the upcoming December 20 polls.
Be it the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, Goa Forward Party or sitting Independent ZP member Dominick Gaonkar, they had all kicked off their election campaigns ahead of the polls. The candidates and their party leaders had descended on the ground as part of their campaign, holding ward-level interactions with the voters.
In fact, the State Election Commission’s decision to reserve the Raia seat for Women (ST) has taken aback the candidates as well as the political parties, as they questioned the reasons behind the sudden change in reservation. They wondered how the SEC had taken the decision suo motu when there has been no demand from any quarters for the reservation of the seat for Women (ST), more so as the Raia seat was reserved for Women (ST) just five years ago.
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Goa Forward plans upset
Goa Forward Party had kicked off its ZP campaign in Raia on October 2 when party leader Vijai Sardesai inducted former Raia Sarpanch Luis Quadros into the party fold. Post-induction, the regional party started its ward-wise meetings across the Raia ZP seat with Luis Quadros starting his campaign with party leader Sardesai in tow.
The SEC’s move to reserve Raia for Women (ST) has upset Goa Forward Party’s calculations. Left with no option, the party has now decided to field the wife of Luis Quadros.
This was confirmed by Goa Forward Chief Vijai Sardesai on Monday. “We had covered a lot of ground in Raia with our candidate. Suddenly, the SEC has issued a corrigendum reserving Raia for Women (ST). The wife of Luis Quadros will be fielded by the party,” he said.
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Sitting ZP Member to field wife

Three-time Raia ZP member Dominick Gaonkar had kicked off his campaign long before his rivals could finalise their candidates for the December polls. The Raia ZP seat has been represented by the Gaonkar family for the last 20 years – thrice by Dominick and once by wife Fatima.
Taking the SEC decision in his stride, Dominick said wife Fatima will descend on the election battlefield in the December 20 ZP polls.
“I had started my campaign in the constituency long ago. But, with the SEC reserving the seat for Women (ST), I have decided to field my wife Fatima in the polls,” he said.
He added: “Fatima is no stranger to politics. She had won the Raia seat when it was reserved for women. Besides, she has been supporting me in attending to the people and taking up projects under the Zilla Panchayat scheme.”

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AAP scouting for an alternative

The Aam Aadmi Party had announced the candidate for the Raia seat in the first list of 10 candidates on November 17. Since then, party candidate and former Rachol panchayat member Luis Oliveira had kicked off his campaign, moving around the constituency with a dedicated band of AAP volunteers.
The SEC decision has not only ruled Luis out of the fray but has left the Aam Aadmi Party in a tight situation to zero in on a potential candidate for Raia.
AAP senior leader Gerson Gomes said the SEC decision has brought the party’s campaign in Raia to an abrupt halt after the seat was reserved for Women (ST). He, however, said the party is zeroing in on three potential Women (ST) candidates to hold the fort for the party in the December 20 polls.

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Anti-coal activist misses out
Prominent anti-coal activist Xavier Fernandes, who was expected to contest the ZP polls on the Congress banner, has been ruled out of the fray post the SEC decision. This implies that the Congress will have to go on a hunting expedition to zero in on a formidable Women (ST) candidate to keep the party in good stead in the hustings.
Xavier told 'The Goan' on Monday that he is baffled by SEC move to suddenly reserve the Raia seat for women (ST). “I don’t think there was any demand or request from any quarter from Raia to reserve Raia for Women (ST). The SEC seems to have taken the decision suo motu,” he said, adding that he had almost covered Loutolim village as part of his campaign.
The SEC decision has left Congress in a quandary as the party will now have to scout for a formidable woman candidate for Raia.