MARGAO
Soon after Congress was decimated in the Davorlim ZP by-poll, with the party relegated to third place, a senior Congress leader raised a pertinent question “ can the grand old party ever hope to regain the lost ground in the State if it could not win the seat?
The Congress leader came out with an equally important question “ If the Congress is struggling to stay afloat in a constituency such as Davorlim, how can the party win in the hinterland constituencies such as Priol and Madkai and Sanvordem or Sanguem?
The Davorlim ZP constituency is part of the Navelim Assembly constituency, where the Lotus bloomed first time in electoral history in 2022.
What the Congress leader was trying to drive home was simple -- the Davorlim ZP seat, which is made up of Aquem-Baixo, Davorlim and Rumdamol housing board, has a significant presence of the minorities, whose vote normally does not go to BJP, but have been the backbone of Congress in successive polls.
Consider this. In the 2022 panchayat polls, the BJP flag could fly high only at Aquem-Baixo. The party had received a drubbing in Rumdamol Housing Board and was stranded midway in Davorlim.
That’s not all. Attribute it to the polarization of the minority community or otherwise, seven out of the nine candidates elected to the Rumdamol Housing Board Panchayat in the polls turned out members from the Muslim community.
The ground reality at the Rumdamol housing board in the Panchayat poll should have given Congress a launching pad and a ray of hope to regain the Davorlim ZP seat from the BJP. Sadly, just four months after the panchayat polls, a major chunk of the vote from the Rumdamol seemed to have gone for AAP, followed by the BJP, and the Independent candidate Murtaza Kuknoor. The Congress candidate was stranded way behind with just 136 votes in an area where the party should have capitalized on the mood and sentiments of the local minority, more so after the BJP at the Centre had banned the Popular Front of India.
A glance at the poll statistics showed that Congress candidate Leon Raikar could not cross the three-digit votes in all the seven polling stations in the Muslim-dominated areas of Rumdamol. The Congress candidate is believed to have polled just 11, 13 and 15 votes in three of the seven booths.
The situation in neighbouring Davorlim and Aquem-Baixo, which plays host to Christian and Muslim votes was not much different, though the Congress improved its performance in these two villages before ending its campaign with just 1,080 votes. The BJP was kept at bay in the 2022 panchayat polls in Davorlim, where a non-BJP sarpanch is ruling the village.
Cong voter base disintegrating?
MARGAO:
When Congress lost a couple of seats in the 2022 Assembly polls, many attributed the electoral debacle staring at the principal opposition party to a division of votes amongst a host of non-BJP parties.
Political observers were then quick to comment that voters may be circumspect while voting in the future after they realised to their shock the return of the saffron party to rule the State for another five years with just a 33 per cent vote share.
Davorlim by-poll result may throw up a question or two about whether the Congress’ traditional voters have not learnt the 2022 Assembly election lesson or simply the Congress’ appeal to its voter base is fast waning, so much so that the electorate is looking for new players as a viable option to fulfil their aspirations.
The emerging scenario may throw up another question “ whether the Congress voter base, including the minorities, is disintegrating in the changing political equations, with new players -- AAP and RGP -- constantly eyeing a slice of the cake? Or, is it simply that Congress lacks a credible leadership to guide its traditional voters and channel the non-BJP vote towards it?
Otherwise, how does one explain the vertical division in the non-BJP vote share, pocketed by as many as four players in Davorlim, including two main political parties, Congress and AAP vying for the same political space?
Decision to rope in TMC man for by-poll comes under fire
MARGAO:
Will South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha and the Congress leadership explain the factors behind inducting Trinamool Congress Navelim block president Leon Raikar into the party and rewarding him with the ticket to contest the Davorlim by-poll?
This question may come to haunt the Congress leadership as the party faced a humiliating defeat in the Davorlim by-poll, barely managing to cross the 1000-figure mark, 1089 votes to be precise, relegating the party to the third spot.
This question comes against the backdrop of the fact that the Congress candidate for the 2020 Davorlim ZP election, Murtuza Kuknoor, whose candidature was then recommended by MP Sardinha, has rebelled against the party and contested the by-poll as an Independent.
Questions are being raised about whether the party had no potential candidate in its ranks and whether the leaders had to scout for a candidate from another political party in a constituency which has been its bastion over the years. Or, is there no leader worth its name in Navelim, leaving the rank and file to fend for itself and look out for other options?
That the Congress losing candidate Leon Raikar remarked after his defeat that he received no help from the party leadership and that the voters did not turn up, is an indication reflecting badly on the leadership and the state of party affairs on the ground.
