MARGAO
Will the saffron brigade prefer to test the political waters in Navelim Assembly constituency in the 2022 Assembly polls? Or, will the ruling party be content in extending support to Independents and regional parties to keep the Congress at bay in a constituency, where the BJP has been registering steady progress in local level elections over the years.
As the BJP has set on course to activate its foot-soldiers across the 40 constituencies ahead of the 2022 electoral battle, Navelim is not an exception. Like in other segments, Navelim has a constituency in-charge in Prabhakar Gaonkar and as many as 10 in-charges to look after the 36 booths and the party organization.
That’s not all. There’s no dearth of leaders and candidates with proven track record to throw their hat in the Assembly fray. In the recently-held Zilla Panchayat polls, Party leaders, including Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Party President Sadanand Tanavade and others were categorical in saying the party has come to state in Navelim, the once congress bastion.
The moot question, however, remains unanswered “ will the party test the political waters in Navelim in 2022 on the Lotus symbol?
Navelim constituency consists of the villages of Navelim, Telaulim, Aqeum-Baixo, Rumdamol and Davorlim with a voter population of around 29,000. Of the five villages, the last three Panchayat areas comprises of voters, estimated around 19000 with the remaining two villages account for the remaining electorate.
It is a coincidence that barring the villages of Navelim and Telaulim, the BJP had established its voter based in the remaining three villages of Aquem-Baixo, Davorlim and Rumdamol. The party has managed to retain the Davorlim Zilla panchayat seat by defeating the Congress, with BJP leader Ulhas Tuemkar get re-elected for the second successive time.
Against this backdrop, local BJP leaders led by two-time Zilla member, Ulhas Tuemkar, Satyavijay Naik, Paresh Naik and others had been making a strong case with the party leadership since 2017 that the time has now come for the saffron brigade to test the political waters in Navelim.
Strategic voting by the BJP in support of Independents had twice decimated the Congress in the last decade and half. In 2007, the party had supported Save Goa Front candidate Churchill Alemao to end Luizinho Faleiro’s long innings in Navelim. In the subsequent election in 2012, the BJP again supported Independent candidate Avertano Furtado to defeat Churchill who had then contested on the Congress banner.
Post-delimitation of Assembly constituencies, the BJP now wields sizeable presence in Navelim with the minority-dominated coastal belt no longer part and parcel of the constituency.
Local political observers say the time has come now for the party to go for a gamble in Navelim in 2022. “It will be gamble. In a multi-cornered contest, the Congress will find it difficult to retain the seat. Also, the BJP should understand that its presence in the fray may lead to polarization of the non-BJP vote in a constituency where minorities still hold the key in deciding the fate of the candidates”, he added.
