MARGAO
What was the message held out by the results of the Lok Sabha election for the South Goa seat for the three Congress turncoats, Digambar Kamat, Aleixo Sequeira and Sankalp Amonkar, besides the two Independent MLAs, Reginaldo Lourenco (Curtorim) and Antonio Vaz (Cortalim) from South Goa supporting the BJP government?
Well, for an answer, consider this. While Congress turncoat, Minister Aleixo Sequeira could not stop the Congress’ free run in his home segment Nuvem, both Digambar Kamat and Sankalp Amonkar simply struggled to give the much-needed vote lead for the BJP.
The story was no different for the Independent MLAs Reginaldo Lourenco and Antonio Vaz. While the Congress candidate Captain Viriato Fernandes secured a huge 9,000-vote lead in Curtorim, the Congress flag flew high in Cortalim with the party securing a much-needed lead of 2,923 votes.
For the three Congress turncoats, the election results showed that the people had a message for them through the Lok Sabha election.
Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira, who left no stone unturned to give a lead for the BJP in minority-dominated Nuvem, may be left stunned by the results. The Congress polled a whopping 16,365 votes in Nuvem, but the BJP ended its campaign in the minority dominated segment with just 2,677 votes, giving Captain Viriato a huge and unassailable lead of 13,688 votes.
The situation was no different in Margao, where seven-time MLA Digambar Kamat had defected to the BJP on September 14, 2022 along with seven other Congress MLAs. Unlike Nuvem, Kamat managed to secure lead over the Congress, but the meagre 1,323-vote lead has virtually silenced the Kamat camp as the BJP was expecting around 10,000-vote lead in Margao.
In Mormugao, the home constituency of Congress turncoat Sankalp Amonkar, the BJP did manage to get a lead of 2,065 votes, but political observers say the lead wasn’t impressive enough when the Congress-turned-BJP MLA had promised a big lead for the BJP on the plank the Congress has no organisation left in the constituency.
