GFP's silence could put Cong in pole position in Siolim, Saligao

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THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
With two MLAs of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) staying away from campaigning actively in the Lok Sabha polls, it could be advantage Congress in Bardez.
WRD Minister Vinod Paliencar and Housing Minister Jayesh Salgaonkar of the GFP represent Siolim and Saligao constituencies respectively in Bardez.
Except for a photo op when BJP candidate for North Goa parliamentary seat Shripad Naik went to file his nomination, both GFP leaders have remained aloof from the campaign.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP had managed a good show in Siolim and Saligao after riding on an anti-Congress wave.
BJP’s Shripad Naik polled more than double the votes polled by his Congress rival Ravi Naik in that election in both the constituencies.
Shripad won by a margin of 5,185 in Siolim and 4,950 votes in Saligao in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Back then, both constituencies were represented by BJP MLAs who were ministers in the BJP-led government in the State.
This time, the two constituencies are with Goa Forward MLAs who have remained silent, while former BJP MLAs appear jaded.
Two weeks back, Shripad Naik had a whirlwind campaign round in Saligao and Siolim, which was anything but inspiring.
“Bhau had one meeting in Saligao which was attended by a handful of karyakartas. None of the sarpanchas or even panchas were present for the meeting,” a BJP insider informed.
A keen political observer opined that with ruling Goa Forward keeping aloof and BJP karyakartas showing dodgy interest in the electioneering, Congress could take pole position both in Saligao and Siolim.
The former BJP MLAs “ Dayanand Mandrekar and Dilip Parulekar “ who lost out to their Goa Forward counterparts in the 2017 assembly polls have also not shown keen interest in the LS polls.
Conversely, in its characteristic style, Congress candidate Girish Chodankar had one meeting with party workers and supporters in Guirim and Saligao.
Interestingly, Congress has received overwhelming support in Siolim with three sarpanchas, Milton Marques (Verla-Canca), Savio Almeida (Anjuna) and Jallindar Goankar (Assagao) openly attending meetings with the Congress candidate.
Sources informed that Siolim-Marna sarpanch has also offered tacit support to the Congress for the parliamentary polls.
“There’s equal support to both the candidates of the national parties. Some people want a new face but there are others who are rooting for Narendra Modi as the PM at the Centre,” a local from Siolim said.
A former sarpanch said that Congress would benefit tremendously due to the stance adopted by the Goa Forward in Saligao.
However, Housing Minister and Goa Forward leader Jayesh Salgaonkar said his party was committed to coalition dharma and was very much with its senior partner in the general election.
“We are supporting the BJP in the parliamentary polls as we are part of the NDA government. But since BJP has its organization in place, we do not want to disturb that. We want to avoid a conflict of interest,” said Salgoankar, seeking to justify his absence from actively campaigning for Shripad Naik.