MARGAO
Ruing BJP’s claim that the issues of track doubling may now cease to exist with the party winning the Guirdolim Zilla Panchayat seat may not exactly reflect the ground reality.
No doubt, the twin villages of Guirdolim and Chandor have been the hotbed of the ongoing anti-track doubling and coal transportation agitation. A glance at the poll statistics would reveal that both Guirdolim and Chandor have rallied behind the opposition Congress, but the BJP emerged triumphant in Guirdolim by decimating the Congress in the five booths in Balli Village, which are all part of the Quepem Assembly segment represented by Dy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar.
Take the case of Guirdolim village. Of the total 1730 votes polled in the village, the Congress pocketed around 981 votes, followed by the BJP 424 votes and the Aam Admi Party 299 votes, giving the Congress a 557 vote lead. In percentage terms, the Congress had a vote share of 56.71 per cent, BJP 24.51 per cent and AAP 17.28 per cent.
In a bid to drive home the point that track doubling and coal issues no longer hold good in the wake of the result thrown up by the ZP polls, the ruling party has come out with another argument that BJP has polled 400-odd votes in Guirdolim village.
Take note, the ruling party polled around 424 votes in Guirdolim, but poll statistics show this is not the first time that the Lotus has made its presence felt in the village. In fact, statistics reveal that the BJP had polled around 321 votes in Guirdolim when the Lotus bloomed in Cuncolim Assembly constituency for the first time in 2012, indicating the BJP has its own traditional vote share in Guirdolim. This assumes significance when claims are being made in ruling circles that the votes polled by the BJP In Guirdolim in the ZP election is a vote against the ongoing agitation.
That’s not all. Neighbouring Chandor village, which had played host to the historic midnight vigil on November 1-2, voted categorically against the BJP in the ZP polls. Of the 1466 votes polled in Chandor village, the Congress polled 979 votes as against 178 by the BJP and 273 by AAP, giving the Congress an 801 vote lead and a vote share of 66.78 per cent.
In Paroda village, however, the home village of Congress-turned-BJP MLA Clafacio Dias, the Congress trailed behind the BJP by around 223 votes. Again, Paroda is one village, which plays host to a sizeable BJP vote share over the years.
The Congress, however, fared badly in the eight polling booths in Balli village, which has been the traditional stronghold of the BJP. Of these eight booths, five booths fall in Quepem Assembly segment represented by Dy. CM Chandrakant Kavlekar while the remaining three booths come under the Cuncolim Assembly constituency.
As far as the three polling booths of Balli coming under Cuncolim constituency is considered, the Congress managed to restrict the BJP lead to around 594 votes.
However, a close look at the result in the in the five booths coming under Quepem constituency revealed that the Congress could hardly managed to poll 455 votes out of 2138 voting, as against 1554 votes polled by the BJP candidate, giving the BJP an unassailable lead of 1099 votes, enough to upset Congress’ poll calculations in Guirdolim ZP constituency.
The Congress was nowhere in the picture in these five booths. And, the reason is simple. Sources say Congress politicians eyeing the Cuncolim Assembly segment has often tend to ignore these five booths on the plea it is pointless to invest time, money and energy on them as they fall in neighbouring Quepem Constituency, which has cost the party dearly in times of Zilla panchayat polls.
Comparatively, the party put up a good show in Ambaulim village, where the Congress and the BJP had an almost even share of the vote.
Congress leader, Yuri Alemao, who led the Congress campaign in Guirdolim ZP seat, said the verdict cannot be interpreted as a vote in support of the three linear projects. “I will stand by the people and oppose the three projects, which will only destroy Goa”, Yuri added.
