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MAPUSA
The BJP may have won the North Goa parliamentary seat with a handsome margin, but the party’s popularity has taken a beating in Bardez.
The BJP’s overall lead in Bardez came down to 13,411 votes, which is less than half of what it gained in the 2014 parliamentary election. The saffron party had a lead of 33,981 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Although Union Minister of State for Ayush Shripad Naik managed to gain lead in six of seven constituencies in the taluka just like in 2014, the lead in all six constituencies saw a considerable climb down, indicating that the party was losing its appeal in Bardez.
The party’s worst performance was in Siolim, where BJP got a lead of only 598 votes and in Aldona where it gained a lead of just 537 votes.
Contrastingly, in 2014, Siolim gave a lead of 5,185
votes to Shripad Naik and Aldona 3,348.
While Aldona is represented by BJP MLA Glenn Ticlo, Siolim is represented by WRD Minister Vinoda Paliencar, an ally of the BJP-led government in the State.
Curiously, BJP got a lead of 2,425 votes in Tivim which is represented by Congress MLA, Nilkant Halarnkar.
In 2014, BJP gained a lead of 6,300 votes in Tivim under the leadership of former BJP legislator, Kiran Kandolkar.
This time, the maximum lead for BJP came from Porvorim with 3,926, votes followed by Mapusa and Saligao with 3,441 and 2,484 votes respectively.
But these numbers are no match to the leads the BJP gained in 2014 where it got 6,065, 8,133 and 4,950 votes from Porvorim, Mapusa and Saligao respectively.
Interestingly, the BJP went down by a margin of 2,458 votes in the coastal constituency of Calangute represented by acting Speaker,
Michael Lobo. In 2014 too, the BJP was trailing in Calangute, but by a thin margin of 115 votes. In terms of votes polled, Congress put up a much better show this time around in Bardez.
The Congress candidate, Girish Chodankar, polled a total of 63,131 votes in all the seven constituencies in Bardez, compared to 43,014 votes polled by Ravi Naik in 2014.
BJP’s Shripad Naik polled a total of 74,084 votes compared to 76,880 he polled in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
BJP General Secretary Sadanand Tanavde informed that the party was aware of the drop in leads in Bardez and BJP was analyzing the data.
“In Siolim, the drop is understandable as the local MLA was not ours and last time we had our MLA who was also a minister,” Tanavde said and added, “We are quite disappointed with the drop witnessed in Aldona and are trying to find reasons for
the same.”
He said in the Calangute, in the 2014 election, local MLA Michael Lobo had moved door-to-door and in spite of that the opposition had managed a slender lead.
“This time, Michael Lobo did not move door-to-door and therefore, it could be a reason why the opposition got a bigger lead,” he opined.
Strangely, the voter of Mapusa responded differently for the assembly by-election and the parliamentary polls.
While BJP’s candidate for Mapusa by-poll, Joshua D’Souza, got a lead of just 1,151 votes, BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate, Shripad Naik gained a lead of 3,441 votes in Mapusa assembly segment.
In Mormugao constituency, Cortalim failed BJP: Godinho
VASCO: All four BJP MLAs in Mormugao were expected to ensure high margins for the party in their respective constituencies at the Lok Sabha polls, but while three of them delivered sizeable leads of 3,000 plus votes, one constituency failed to deliver the goods and instead, gave a slim lead to the Congress party.
A disappointed Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho sought to blame BJP’s dismal performance in Cortalim constituency for the defeat of BJP MP Narendra Sawaikar at the South Goa Lok Sabha polls. “While the three constituencies of Mormugao, Vasco and Dabolim managed to give a significant leads to the BJP candidate, Cortalim constituency could not secure a lead for the BJP and offered a lead to Congress of about 100 votes,” remarked Godinho, when asked to analyse the party’s performance in Mormugao taluka at the LS polls.
“We had expected and promised a minimum lead of around 14,000 votes to our party candidate, with a minimum lead of 3,000 votes
from each of the four constituencies.”
“All the other three constituencies delivered on this assurance and gave 3,000 plus leads in Mormugao (3,438), Vasco (3,024) and Dabolim (3,779), with the highest number of leads in Dabolim constituency, though the size of the electorate is small and booths are less,” said Godinho.
“In Mormugao taluka, Cortalim constituency failed us as usual and instead of giving us the lead, they gave the lead to the Congress. Cortalim constituency, despite having a higher number of voters and more polling booths, failed us,” said Godinho. Incidentally, Godinho had previously represented Cortalim constituency and it is currently represented by MLA Alina Saldanha.
