INDIA bloc forges a united front at Fatorda ahead of the May 7 polls.
Photo Credits: The Goan
MARGAO
When Congress-turned-BJP Margao MLA Digambar Kamat hopped from one Municipal ward to another in the Fatorda Assembly segment with ex-Dy CM Manohar Ajgaonkar and former two-time Fatorda MLA Damu Naik in tow, the message was loud and clear that the saffron brigade means business in the constituency represented in the Goa Legislative Assembly by Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai.
Both BJP candidate Pallavi Dempo and her Congress challenger Captain Viriato Fernandes too have made their presence felt in Fatorda ahead of the May 7 Lok sabha poll, but the election has virtually turned into a battle between the three-time Fatorda MLA Sardesai and the troika comprising of arch-rivals Damu Naik, Digambar Kamat and Manohar Ajgaonkar
Sensing the developments in the BJP camp, wherein attempts have been made for the consolidation of voters towards Dempo, the Goa Forward chief too did not lag behind in getting rivals on the INDIA bloc platform to avoid a split in the anti-BJP vote.
Both the INDIA bloc and the rival BJP camps seemed working on the ground with the one-point agenda – to lead over the rival and establish supremacy in the constituency. For the Digambar-Damu-Ajgaonkar troika, the May 7 election is a platform to test the political waters in Fatorda before they all brace up to take on the Goa Forward chief head-on in the 2027 Assembly elections.
The Goa Forward chief, on the other hand, is expected to defend his fort from crumbling in the ensuing polls, even though the presence of Pallavi Dempo and her husband Shrinivas, who are considered family friends of the Fatorda MLA.
A glance at the Lok Sabha poll statistics reveals that Fatorda is a different ball game for the Congress and the BJP. In the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, the BJP led over the Congress by 438 votes when the Congress candidate Reginaldo Lourenco had the full backing of the Goa Forward chief.
Interestingly, in the following election in 2019, the Congress got the better of the BJP by a slender margin of 500-odd votes despite Sardesai being part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
A comparison of the Lok Sabha poll statistics of the 2014 and 2019 elections has thrown up a question or two; the most important one - Which party will take a lead in Fatorda this time in the May 7 election? For an answer, the results of the Assembly polls may provide an insight into the voting pattern and the possibility of shifting of votes in both camps.
With Pallavi Dempo in the fray under the BJP banner, even the Goa Forward chief has publicly conceded that a good number of votes in the region of 1500-1800, may go to the BJP this time round. On the other hand, close aides of BJP leader Damu Naik in private admit that a sizeable minority vote polled by the two-time MLA may return to the Congress in the coming polls.
Sardesai’s move to further consolidate the non-BJP vote towards Captain Viriato Fernandes by getting his rival on the INDIA bloc platform is seen as an attempt by the Goa Forward chief to pave the way for the Congress to score a lead, if not a comfortable lead over the BJP in Fatorda.
Battle for Fatorda: What results of last Assembly poll suggest
A glance at the results of the 2022 Assembly polls shows that Vijai Sardesai had retained Fatorda by a thin margin of 1350 votes. The reduction in Sardesai’s lead may be attributed to a host of factors.
One thing, however, remains clear that around 3000 votes were pocketed by non-BJP and non-GPF parties, comprising the Revolutionary Goans Party, Aam Aadmi Party and the TMC.
While political observers say around 1500 votes polled by Sardesai may shift to Pallavi Dempo in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the INDIA bloc leaders hope for a consolidation of the non-BJP votes in favour of Captain Viriato Fernandes to give the Congress candidate a comfortable lead in Fatorda.
