MARGAO
BJP leader Damu Naik’s concerted attempt to forge a BJP-ST (Scheduled Tribes) combination in Fatorda seemed to have paid off, bringing dividends in terms of seats for the saffron party in the election for the Margao civic body.
That the combination has clicked in the Agalli-Borda-Gogol belt, which has a significant presence of the ST community, as evident by the fact that the BJP has won all the seats from this belt, may leave the Goa Forward Chief Vijai Sardesai and his party into an introspection mode ahead of the 2022 election.
Milagrina Gomes in ward 7 and Camilo Barretto in ward 8, besides Sadanand Naik in ward 6, who contested on the BJP-backed Vibrant Margao panel, defeated Goa Forward-backed Fatorda Forward candidates.
In the run-up to the civic election, BJP leader, Damu Naik had a task cut out for him “ to shift the BJP core voters to Milagrina and Camilo in wards 7 and 8, which he seemed to have achieved as evident by the poll result.
The defeat of Viviana Cardozo, daughter of former Congress MLA and ST leader, Mama Cardozo, however, came as a dampener for Damu, with the BJP camp admitting that Viviana’s victory would have been perfect icing on the cake.
Damu, however, expressed his satisfaction over the poll result, even as he thanked Fatordekars for supporting the Vibrant Margao panel. “We had drawn a blank in 2015, but now we have won three seats in Fatorda and two in Curtorim area and lost in another two by a whisker. Our tally of votes have also increased, indicating that the people of Fatorda have supported our panel,” Damu said.
