MARGAO
The Benaulim ZP by-poll is indeed a testing time for the INDIA bloc, just days after the experiment tasted huge success in the recently held Lok Sabha polls.
For, the Alliance has come under strain in Benaulim in the run up to the June 23 ZP by-poll, with resentment brewing in the Congress, Goa Forward and the NCP camps finally bursting out in the open.
Benaulim Congress leader and GPCC general secretary has quit the Congress to throw her hat in the election ring. Goa Forward member Pele Fernandes is openly supporting the candidature of Independent candidate Grrayfans Fernandes. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Goa unit Mahila chief and Carmona Sarpanch Sandra Martins is sore that neither the Alliance leaders nor Aam Aadmi Party leaders have informed her of Pimenta’s candidature. “The INDI Alliance was formed to take on PM Narendra Modi for his dictatorship. The Lok Sabha election is over. We are not even being told who is the Alliance candidate,” Martins said.
The Benaulim ZP by-poll is considered significant for the INDIA bloc given that leaders of the Alliance have all been publicly betting in support of the continuance of the Alliance at least till the 2027 Goa Assembly elections.
Political observers say the future of the INDIA bloc may face a setback in the event the Aam Aadmi Party fails to retain the Benaulim ZP seat. So far, AAP leaders have been concentrating on the by-poll campaign, with top leaders, including MLA Cruz Silva, AAP chief Amit Palekar and Valmiki Naik descending on the Benaulim battle ground to drum up support for Joseph Pimenta. “If AAP retains the Benaulim seat, it would hold good for the Alliance. We will have to wait and see how AAP leaders react in the event the party fails to retain the seat,” remarked a political observer.
