MARGAO
After taking on the BJP head on in the just concluded Lok Sabha election, the INDIA Alliance will face an acid test with the State Election Commission notifying the bye-election for the Benaulim Zilla panchayat seat.
Will the INDIA Alliance, which was stitched primarily to checkmate the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, be extended for the Benaulim Zilla Panchayat bypoll? If yes, will the INDIA Alliance leave the Benaulim ZP seat for the Aam AAdmi Party (AAP) to contest? Or, will the Congress, which has its own base in Benaulim, stake claim for the seat? Take note, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress party (NCP) had finished second and third place in the 2020 Zilla Panchayat polls for Benaulim.
Indeed, the INDIA Alliance will be facing testing time over the Benaulim Zilla panchayat seat even as the Aam Aadmi Party is gearing up for the bye-poll, with party leaders openly saying the Benaulim ZP seat rightfully belongs to the Party.
For, party leaders in private pointed out that not only the Benaulim ZP seat was represented by the Party member Hanzel Fernandes before his disqualification over the caste certificate discrepancy, the Benaulim constituency is represented by MLA Capt Venzy Viegas in the Goa Legislative Assembly.
In fact, AAP Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas is categorical in saying that AAP expects the INDIA Alliance bloc to leave the Benaulim seat to the party since the partners had jointly fought the just concluded Lok Sabha election. “Benaulim Zilla Panchayat seat is our seat. We had won the seat in the ZP polls. We expect the Alliance partners to support AAP in the fight for the Benaulim ZP seat”, Venzy said.
Sources say AAP is unlikely to concede the Benaulim ZP seat to the Alliance partners come what may since the Arvind Kejrival-led party had tasted electoral success from Benaulim in the 2020 Zilla Panchayat polls before finally opening its account in the 2022 Goa Assembly election by winning the Benaulim and Velim seats.
In fact, Venzy pointed out that AAP has already shortlisted party candidates for the June 23 ZP bye-election, saying the candidate should be finalized within a week’s time. “AAP believes in starting any election campaign early. The Congress had delayed in unveiling candidate for the Lok Sabha polls, but AAP volunteers had initiated the campaign on behalf of the INDIA Alliance long before the candidate was unveiled by the Congress”, he said, while promising that AAP will not be late in finalizing the candidate.
In the 2020 ZP polls, AAP’s Hanzel Fernandes had won the seat by defeating the Congress and Nationalist Congress party candidates. While Hanzel had polled 3071 votes, Congress candidate Royla Fernandes had finished second by polling 2637 votes, while NCP’s Menino de Bandar had polled 2489 votes.
Incidentally, both the Congress and the NCP are now partners of the INDIA Alliance block, having fought the two Goa Lok Sabha seats together.
