MAPUSA
Goa’s election season appears to have entered the yatra phase. With the Congress already taking its ‘Goy Rakhonn Yatra’ across the State, the ruling BJP has now unveiled its own counter-mobilisation – the ‘Seva Jyoti Yatra’ – turning the two parties’ competing claims of serving and protecting Goa into a political street battle.
The BJP will take out the ‘Seva Jyoti Yatra’ across all 20 constituencies of North Goa on Wednesday, October 7, with more than 200 two-wheeler riders expected to participate, BJP Mayem MLA and yatra convener Premendra Shet said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP’s North Goa office in Mapusa, Shet sought to dismiss the Congress’ ‘Goy Rakhonn Yatra’ as a “political stunt”, arguing that the BJP government’s record of governance and public service had already demonstrated its commitment to protecting people’s interests.
But the timing of the BJP’s counter-yatra – coming barely two weeks after Congress began its own statewide campaign – has given the rival yatras an unmistakable pre-election edge.
The BJP’s programme will begin at 8 am from each of North Goa’s 20 constituencies, with participants travelling through their respective constituencies before converging in Mapusa for a public meeting at Hanuman Natyagruha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Nitin Nabin are expected to address the gathering, while Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Shet Tanavade will also speak, according to Shet.
The event will conclude with a ‘Jyoti Padyatra’ through Mapusa town.
Shet said similar yatras would subsequently be organised in the other two districts of Goa and across the country, suggesting that the BJP’s campaign is being positioned as more than a one-day North Goa exercise.
North Goa BJP president Dayanand Karbotkar, youth president Tushar Kelkar and Mapusa mandal president Yogesh Khedekar were present.
With Assembly elections only months away, the competing yatras are increasingly looking like parallel political campaigns – Congress seeking to build a narrative around ‘saving Goa’, while the BJP is attempting to turn the spotlight on its development and welfare record.
Whether the BJP’s ‘Seva Jyoti’ is a counter to the Congress’ mobilisation or simply an exercise in showcasing organisational strength may become clearer as both parties take their campaigns deeper into the constituencies.
For now, Goa appears to have entered a season of yatras and political showmanship.
