MARGAO
From a narrow defeat in the Assembly election less than two years ago to a triumphant win in Parliament, Captain Viriato Fernandes has joined the ranks of South Goa MPs who have made it to Parliament after facing setbacks in Assembly elections.
Captain’s attempt to enter the Goa Legislative Assembly from Dabolim in the 2022 election was thwarted when he lost to heavyweight Mauvin Godinho by a whisker. Now, less than two years later, the former Naval Captain has secured a seat in Parliament by winning the Lok Sabha polls from South Goa.
This isn’t a first time that a defeated candidate in the Assembly election has gone to Parliament from South Goa. In fact, record shows that a defeat in the Assembly or Lok Sabha election has been a passport for politicians from South Goa in recent political history.
In fact, Captain Viriato has joined the list of former South Goa MPs, including MP Francisco Sardinha, Churchill Alemao, Ramakant Angle and Narendra Sawaikar, who all made it to the Lok Sabha after their failure at the Assembly or Lok Sabha election.
Four-time MP Francisco Sardinha, who time and again tried to scuttle Captain Viriato’s prospects of getting the party ticket by insisting that the latter had lost the Dabolim Assembly election, had twice made it to Parliament after his defeat in the Assembly election from Curtorim constituency.
The first time Sardinha made it to Parliament was in the late 90’s after his Curtorim fort crumbled in the 1994 Assembly election. The second time he got Congress nomination to contest the Lok Sabha election was in 2007 after he suffered a defeat at the hands of incumbent Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco.
Former two-time MP Churchill Alemao too made it to the Lok Sabha for the second time in 2004 when he faced a defeat in the 2022 Assembly election at the hands of Mickky Pacheco in Benaulim.
BJP’s two former MPs, Ramakant Angle and Narendra Sawaikar too made to Parliament in the late 90’s and in 2014 election respectively after they faced defeat in their first attempt. Both Ramakant Angle and Narendra Sawaikar had tasted defeats at the hands of Congress’ Francisco Sardinha before the duo made it to Parliament.
