The party had made significant political gains while heralding its entry into Cong territory in Assembly polls
Revolutionary Goans Party Candidate for the South Goa Seat Rubert Pereira with party top brass in Salcete.
MARGAO
As the campaign for the May 7 election for the South Goa seat heats up, one crucial question that has become a subject matter of debate in Saxtti’s political circles is simple – can the nascent Revolutionary Goans party (RGP) stop the Congress’ free run in Salcete, the minority-dominated stronghold, which had in the recent political history propelled the party and its candidates to electoral success?
Or will the RGP meet the same fate as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the Arvind Kejriwal-led Party was left stranded midway in the minority-dominated taluka five years ago.
Well, these questions are repeatedly doing the rounds in Salcete countryside as the ongoing campaign has reached a decisive stage. And, the reason is not far to seek. For, the RGP had not only made an impressive political debut in Salcete in the 2022 Assembly election, but made significant political gains while heralding its entry into the Congress territory two years ago.
Consider this for an answer: Statistics of the 2022 Assembly election provides an insight into the entry and rise of the Revolutionary Goans Party into Salcete. Take note, the nascent political party could not win a single seat in Salcete, where as many as eight Assembly seats are at stake, but the RGP left poll pundits baffled and intrigued and Congress leaders into an introspection mode over its performance in the taluka, polling a consolidated 20,883 vote.
In fact, a glance at the statistics reveal that RGP candidates had ended up with four-digit figures in most of the Assembly segments, barring Margao where the RGP finished with 722 votes.
In the four Assembly segments of Nuvem, Velim, Benaulim and Curtorim, all considered the heartland of the Christian minority, the RGP polled 3,000-plus vote, making deep inroads into the Congress bastion. In fact, the RGP emerged runners up in the Nuvem segment, leaving behind a host of political heavyweights behind, including former Minister Mickky Pacheco and ex-MLA Wilfred D’Sa.
The story was no different in Curtorim segment. RGP South Goa Lok Sabha candidate Rubert Pereira, who had contested the 2022 Assembly election from Curtorim in 2022, had ended up his campaign by polling an impressive 3,479 votes.
The equation appears simple – the RGP had polled 20,000-odd votes in 2022 Assembly election, around 20,883 to be precise, throwing up a moot question, what impact will the nascent political party have on the Congress’ electoral fortunes if it manages to poll 20,000 votes if not more in Salcete.
That explains why the Congress leadership has not stopped labeling the RGP as a spoiler and the BJP B team, wary of the fact that even if the regional party polls substantial number of votes, it will do so at the cost of the Congress in the minority dominated taluka.
Take note, the RGP had kicked off its campaign in Salcete and elsewhere across South Goa long before the Congress could finalise its candidate. Since then, Party candidate Rubert Pereira and RGP volunteers have been making their presence felt in certain pockets of Salcete, with the hope of doing a repeat of the 2022 Assembly polls, if not better the record.
Says political commentator, Adv Cleofato Coutinho: “It is a fact that the Congress would be affected the most by the vote polled by the Revolutionary Goans Party, especially in Salcete. But, we have to understand that Assembly and Lok Sabha election are two different elections. The RGP might have put up a good show in the Assembly polls when the party had fielded a host of candidates in the Assembly constituencies. Lok Sabha election is a different ball game”.
