MARGAO
The Guirdolim Zilla Panchayat seat had witnessed a no-holds barred campaign in the run up to the election scheduled on March 22 last.
And, this is one seat in Salcete where campaigning has not lost its steam even nine months later, with the Congress and BJP locked in a keen tussle for the December 12 poll.
And, the reason is not far too seek. The Congress is out to prove a point or two to local MLA Clafacio Dias, for having switched sides to embrace the BJP along with Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar.
That’s not all. The Congress campaign is led by Clafacio’s arch political rivals, the father-son duo of Joaquim and Yuri Alemao.
Take note, even before Joaquim and Yuri had returned back to the Congress fold, the duo had made a common cause with the Congress candidate Sonia Fernandes in a bid to keep the BJP candidate Sanjana Velip at bay, who is backed by both the Cuncolim MLA Clafacio and neighbouring Quepem MLA Kavlekar.
Having embraced the Congress last month, both Joaquim and Yuri seemed to have left nothing to chance in support of the Congress candidate. The duo as well as the Congress camp is also banking heavily on the twin issues of Coal transportation and track doubling projects, which have come under strong objection from the Guirdolim and Chandor villagers, to turn the tide against the BJP.
Sources in the know say both the Congress and the BJP have left nothing to chance to reach out to the electorate in the villages of Balli, Ambaulim, Paroda, Guirdolim and Chandor.
In fact, many have billed the ensuing Zilla Panchayat poll for the Guirdolim seat as a semi-final clash between arch rivals, MLA Clafacio Dias and Joaquim Alemao.
The duo had fought the 2017 Assembly election, with Clafacio winning the Cuncolim Assembly seat by a thin margin of around 30 votes against Joaquim, who had contested the polls as an Independent.
With Clafacio embracing the BJP and Joaquim back in the Congress after a gap of three years and half, the ensuing ZP polls has generated much interest in Cuncolim constituency, which is dubbed as a battle of supremacy between two political rivals.
