Cong eyes tsunami of voters along coast, but faces uphill task of overcoming drought in hinterland

MARGAO
Exactly a week to go for the May 7 Lok Sabha poll for the South Goa constituency, a Congress surge is palpable along the South Goa coast. Congress candidate Captain Viriato Fernandes has even predicted a tsunami of voters on May 7 in support of the INDIA bloc.

The Congress leadership, however, may have to grapple with the same old question that comes to haunt the party in every Lok Sabha election – how to overcome the electoral drought the Congress normally faces in the hinterland talukas of the South Goa constituency.

Indeed, with as many as eight Assembly segments at stake, spread across the four hinterland talukas of Quepem, Canacona, Sanguem and Ponda, the Congress is faced with a major challenge to make inroads in Madkai, Ponda, Shiroda, Sanvordem, Sanguem, Curchorem, Canacona and Quepem.

Take note, of these eight Assembly segments, the Congress is representing the lone Quepem Assembly segment, with the BJP enjoying its hold over the six segments and the remaining seat of Madkai by alliance partner, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).

That’s not all. Of these eight Assembly seats, as many as four segments are represented by Ministers in Chief Minister Pramod Sawant Cabinet – Ravi Naik (Ponda), Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar (Madkai), Subhash Shirodkar (Shiroda) and Subhash Faldesai (Sanguem). Canacona segment is headed by Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly and BJP ST leader Ramesh Tawadkar.

Assuming that the Congress would put up a good show in the Quepem segment represented by party MLA Altone D’Costa, questions stare at the Congress leaders how the main Opposition party would go about in the remaining seven segments, bereft of a dedicated cadre and leaders capable of swaying the voters towards the INDIA bloc.

None other than the BJP knows for sure how these eight Assembly segments hold the key for the party’s fortunes in the Lok Sabha elections, how, even a slight decline in voting for the saffron party in the hinterland areas has had an adverse effect on the poll outcome.

In fact, if the Congress relies heavily on the eight Assembly segments in Salcete taluka to power the party to victory in the Lok Sabha election, the same holds good for the BJP in the eight segments in the hinterland talukas of the constituency.

Results of the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections provides an answer and an insight into the crucial role the hinterland segments play and shape the BJP’s electoral fortunes.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BJP candidate Narendra Sawaikar had a virtual free run in the hinterland segments, when he got over 40,000-vote lead over the Congress in the eight Assembly segments, which proved decisive in the final analysis to seal the fate of the Congress, despite Salcete giving an unassailable lead for candidate Reginaldo Lourenco scoring over 30,000-vote lead over the BJP.

In the 2019 election, however, the BJP could not hold on to the vote in the hinterland areas over a host of factors, including the key factor that the MGP had extended support to the Congress. The end result was all to see. If the BJP had led over the Congress with over 11,143 votes in 2014, the BJP lead came down to just 2,000 votes in the 2019 election. In Sanvordem too, the BJP lead came down from 11,843 in 2014 to 8,572 votes in 2019, sealing the fate of ex-MP Narendra Sawaikar.

Against this backdrop, Congress workers, well wishers and sympathisers may be anxious to know from the Congress leadership how the party has gone about engaging the BJP in the eight seats, whether the party has put an action plan in place to stop BJP’s free run in the hinterland.

No doubt, the Congress candidate Capt Viriato Fernandes has made his presence felt across all eight Assembly segments of Madkai, Ponda, Shiroda, Sanvordem, Sanguem, Curchorem, Quepem and Canacona with party leaders in tow.

All eyes on Patkar, Altone, Yuri to break BJP’s hold in hinterland talukas

MARGAO: With the Congress having not much representation in the hinterland talukas of South Goa, the responsibility of keeping the Congress flag flying high in the eight Assembly segments seemed to have fallen on the shoulders of State Congress president Amit Patkar, Quepem MLA and Congress South Goa coordinator Altone D’Costa and Opposition leader Yuri Alemao.

For, these three top Congress leaders, who are associated with the hinterland talukas of South Goa have a task cut out, how to reduce the BJP lead in the eight Assembly segments.

While MLA Altone D’Costa is expected to give a lead for the Congress over the BJP in his home constituency of Quepem, all eyes are focused on the GPCC chief Amit Patkar, who had lost the 2022 Assembly election from Curchorem constituency by a narrow margin against BJP heavyweight Nilesh Cabral.

In fact, sources said the Congress president not only faces the challenge of holding the fort for Captain Viriato Fernandes in Curchorem, but ensure that party make inroads in the two segments of Sanvordem and Sanguem coming under the mining belt, in a bid to reduce the BJP’s free run.

Sources further pointed out that Opposition leader Yuri Alemao will have to tap his old connections in Sanguem, where he had narrowly lost in the 2012 Assembly election, besides retaining his fort in Cuncolim in the May 7 Lok Sabha election.