MARGAO
A host of factors seemed to have contributed to Aam Aadmi Party’s comfortable victory in the Benaulim Zilla Panchayat by-poll, which not only helped the Arvind Kejriwal-led party to retain the Zilla Panchayat seat, but facilitated the INDI Alliance bloc to register yet another victory in the state post-June 4 Lok Sabha results.
AAP’s strong volunteer base in Benaulim; INDI Alliance bloc support; feel good factor created by INDIA bloc's South Goa Lok Sabha victory; Churchill Alemao factor, the BJP ghost, Congress MP Captain Viriato’s strategic message on the eve of the by-poll -- all seemed to have turned the tables against the independent candidates leaving them stranded well behind at the fag end of the race.
Volunteer base: It’s an open secret that Benaulim is one Assembly constituency where the Aam Aadmi Party enjoys a strong volunteer base, besides support of party well-wishers. This was evident right from the time AAP made its presence felt in Goa in the run up to the 2017 Assembly election, culminating in the party opening its account in Benaulim in the 2020 Zilla Panchayat poll.
Compared to the rival candidates, AAP candidate Joseph Pimenta kick-started his campaign in right earnest with support from local MLA Venzy Viegas and an army of volunteers. That Venzy profusely thanked the 300-odd party volunteers after Pimenta’s victory is a strong acknowledgement of the role played by the army of AAP volunteers in the bye-polls, paving the ground for the victory.
INDI Alliance feel good factor: AAP’s game plan to push for the INDI Alliance in the Benaulim ZP by-poll seemed simple: Ensure the opposition parties do not field a candidate in a constituency where the BJP has little or no presence. Secondly, and more importantly, tap the feel good factor created by the INDI Alliance victory in the recently held Lok Sabha polls, where a tsunami of Benaulim voters gave the highest lead for Captain Viriato Fernandes in South Goa. That AAP team led by Party president Amit Palekar and MLA Venzy Viegas kept harping on the INDI Alliance bloc by pushing AAP to the background was an attempt to woo voters of all parties including the Congress, on its side.
Alemao factor: Aam Aadmi party has witnessed a steady growth in minority-dominated Benaulim in the last seven years by taking on the Alemaos, right from the 2017 Assembly election, culminating in the defeat of Churchill Alemao in the 2022 Assembly election at the hands of MLA Venzy Viegas. None other than Venzy and his team knew for sure that tapping the Alemao factor against the rival independent candidates, Grrayfans Fernandes and Royla Fernandes backed by the warring Alemao clan will reap in huge political dividends. The AAP team played to anti-Alemao voters with perfection, going around the constituency claiming that victory of the independent candidates would resurrect the Alemaos back in Benaulim.
BJP ghost: In a constituency where the BJP has little or no presence, the BJP factor seemed irrelevant to many a political observer. Team AAP, however, tapped the strong anti-BJP sentiment prevailing amongst the voters to its advantage, against the backdrop of the 2024 Lok Sabha victory. Party leaders raised the BJP bogey in the minority-dominated constituency to drive home the point that the election of the independents will mean the return of BJP through the backdoor. Churchill Alemao’s ties with the BJP came in handy for the AAP team to convey the BJP’s backdoor entry into Benaulim.
MP Capt Viriato Fernandes: The surgical strike against the independents came just moments before curtains came down on the week-long, no-holds-barred campaign when AAP fired its most lethal weapon from its armoury against the independents by roping in ex-naval Captain Viriato Fernandes In fact, Captain’s two-minute appeal in a video to the voters of Benaulim to beware of the candidates fighting the ZP by-poll as proxy candidates with BJP’s backing came as a last straw, virtually puncturing the independent candidates’ campaign on the eve of the bye-poll.
