NIVRUTTI SHIRODKAR
PERNEM
Dayanand Sopte’s victory over Jeet Arolkar in the Madrem bypoll on Thursday proved that development and not defection matters in Goan politics.
Such was Sopte’s winning performance (12,173 votes), that his nearest rival and independent candidate Jeet Arolkar (8,568) was well short by 3605 votes while Babi Bagkar of the Congress was a distant third with only 3,883 votes.
The results indicated that the people of Mandrem constituency were firmly behind Sopte, despite the presence of his arch-rival and former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who had refused to accept Sopte as a BJP leader in Mandrem constituency.
Sopte’s win at the Mandrem bypoll is significant because Parsekar had not campaigned for him, leaving Sopte to single-handly fight the bypoll.
Incidentally, this is for only the second time that Mandrem constituency has witnessed a bypoll. Following the death of then chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar, a bypoll was held in 1972 and Ramakant Khalap of the MGP won the bypoll.
With three main contestants in the fray, the votes polled by Sopte came down in the bypoll, as opposed to the 2017 election.
While Sopte had polled over 16,000 votes in 2017, his votes came down to 12,173, while Arolkar polled a sizeable 8,568 votes to firmly establish his political career in the constituency.
With Sopte’s win and Arolkar’s political rise, the political career of Parsekar will now be in doubt, given his diminishing influence within the party and constituency.
Parsekar had revolted against the party’s decision to admit Sopte and had refused to canvas for Sopte in the bypoll.
However, Sopte managed to win the acceptance and confidence of the BJP cadre, as well as retain support of the Congress workers who had worked for him in 2017.
A key factor in Sopte’s victory was the support of the mahila mandals and much credit goes to his wife, Deepashri, who worked relentlessly to ensure that women cast their votes in favour of her husband.
In a strange turn of politics, Tourism Minister and Pernem MLA Babu Ajgaokar lent valuable support to his former arch-rival, providing Sopte with the much-needed boost during his poll campaign. Such was his committed to Sopte, that he even sidelined his close friend Jeet Arolkar, who had worked hard for Ajgaonkar’s victory in 2017.
Sopte claimed that his decision to quit Congress and join BJP was solely to provide employment to the youth in Pernem.
Going by his victory in the Mandrem bypoll, voters believed in Sopte and voted for him in large numbers. It is now left to be seen how and when Sopte fulfills these promises and provides them with
employment opportunities.
