MARGAO
As the Congress’ Goy Rakhonn Yatra enters Salcete on Tuesday, with Benaulim as one of its first key stops, the party leadership will certainly be hoping that the yatra helps it cover lost ground and regain the constituency in the 2027 Assembly elections.
The yatra has generated considerable interest among Congress workers and supporters, primarily because the last time the Congress won Benaulim was in 1999, when former chief minister Churchill Alemao was elected from the constituency on a Congress ticket.
Since then, the Benaulim seat has changed hands several times. Former minister Mickky Pacheco represented the constituency on different party platforms, including the United Goans Democratic Party and the Nationalist Congress Party. The Goa Vikas Party MLA Caitu D’Silva won the seat in 2012, before the NCP regained the seat in 2017, when the constituency voted for Churchill Alemao to the Legislative Assembly. In 2022, the constituency went to the Aam Aadmi Party, with Venzy Viegas emerging victorious.
Local Congress workers, particularly the Benaulim Block Congress Committee, have remained steadfast in their opposition to any electoral alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, maintaining that the Congress is capable of regaining the seat on its own in the coming polls.
In fact, the party leadership virtually faced a backlash when the party conceded the Benaulim ZP seat to the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2024 ZP bye-poll.
Last year, the Block Congress Committee appeared to prove its point in the 2025 Zilla Panchayat elections, when the Congress wrested the Benaulim ZP seat from the Aam Aadmi Party.
Buoyed by its success in the ZP polls, the Congress block committee has continued its organisational work in the constituency and has even projected ZP member Luiza Rodrigues as a prospective candidate for the 2027 Assembly election.
Last week, the Congress leadership had inducted social activist Santan Pereira as part of attempts to further strengthen the organisation. At the induction programme, South Goa MP Captain Viriato Fernandes had expressed confidence that Benaulim would return to the Congress fold in 2027.
Warren’s Congress entry: Is the door finally open?
MARGAO: The appeal by youth leader Warren Alemao to people to join the Congress’ Goy Rakhonn Yatra in Benaulim on Tuesday has stirred political buzz ahead of the yatra, which is scheduled to begin at the Dando grounds.
Warren, cousin of Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, had met senior Congress leaders at Congress House some time ago, fuelling speculation that the party could open its doors to him. However, his entry into the party has yet to materialise.
It has been more than a year since Warren first expressed his willingness to join Congress, but his entry remains pending. His meeting with the Congress leadership over a month ago had again fuelled speculation that a decision could be imminent, but none followed.
Warren’s latest appeal has added to speculation over whether he had the party leadership’s nod and whether Congress will open its doors to him ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
