MARGAO
With the Election Commission of India finally announcing Goa Assembly polls on Valentine’s Day (February 14), the focus is now back on the political parties as they go about unveiling their list of candidates for the eight Assembly constituencies of Salcete.
Barring Aam Aadmi Party, which has announced as many as six candidates in Salcete, the Congress and its challenger Trinamool Congress, besides the BJP, are all bracing up to unveil their candidates who will be drafted to keep the flags of the respective parties flying high in the polls.
Having started early in the poll preparations, the Aam Aadmi Party was well ahead of its counterparts in shortlisting and selection of candidates. Though the AAP leadership had unveiled the second list on Sunday, the candidates were zeroed in by the party long ago, with most of them having completed a couple of rounds of campaigning in their respective constituencies.
Comparatively, the Congress party seems to have been treading a cautious path over the announcement of candidates as it may trigger a rebellion in its stronghold.
In the first list of party candidates for Salcete taluka, the Congress leadership had unveiled three candidates, namely Opposition Leader Digambar Kamat in Margao, Reginaldo Lourenco in Curtorim and youth leader Yuri Alemao in Cuncolim. Of the three candidates, Reginaldo has quit the party to embrace the Trinamool Congress, leaving the party leadership to tread cautiously on the question of declaring the candidates in the remaining five constituencies.
The party leadership has suddenly realized that it has to look for a capable candidate to take on Reginaldo in Curtorim. A senior leader pointed out that the party is still grappling with the question of finding a replacement for Reginaldo in Curtorim. That’s not all. Lack of unanimity amongst the local party leaders on the choice of the candidate for Curtorim has prompted the Congress leadership not to act in haste over the unveiling of candidates in the remaining seats in Salcete.
Sources in the Congress say the party is facing a tough time in finalizing candidates in Velim, Curtorim, Navelim and Benaulim. Party leaders in private say it has a task cut out to contain dissidence and rebellion in the constituencies of Velim, Curtorim and Navelim with the ticket aspirants still not losing hope of getting the prized ticket.
Some of the aspirants in these segments are reported to have spent huge amounts of money for mobilizing crowds and supporters with the hope of getting the ticket.
On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress, which has emerged as the challenger for the Congress in some of the seats in Salcete, is also yet to announce its list of candidates. In constituencies such as Margao and Fatorda, where the party has inducted more than one probable candidate, the field looks wide open.
That’s not all. The party seems to be waiting for the Congress to unveil its list of candidates in a couple of constituencies, where there’s more than one aspirant in the ticket race.
