BOOTH WORKER STRENGTH DID THE JOB FOR PARTY
SANGUEM
Sanguem constituency, which recorded the highest voter turnout of 82.2% in South Goa, is expected to be a huge boost to the BJP, as part of its ‘Mission Hinterland’ to maximise its vote share in the hinterland constituencies of the district.
The BJP will be pleased by this voter turnout, especially because BJP leaders led by Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phal Dessai were seen busy preparing for the elections and coordinating with local leaders and connecting with voters to yield the desired results in favour of BJP’s candidate, Pallavi Dempo.
On the other hand, the Congress and the INDI Alliance did not make serious efforts to reach out to voters across Sanguem, even though Congress workers claimed that the party would do much better in the constituency.
The BJP had a clear strategy in the remote Sanguem constituency, with reports indicating that the party had chosen not less than 10 primary booth workers for every booth of around 350 to 450 voters. The task of every booth worker was to establish a close connection with 35-45 voters.
This calculation and task assigned to the booth leaders made the party’s calculation simple, and they knew those areas where the party would poll maximum votes.
While the remote panchayat areas would do well for the BJP, the village panchayats of Uguem, Molcornem, and Sanguem town could provide some solace for the INDI Alliance Candidate Capt. Viriato Fernandes, as otherwise the BJP would have taken an unassailable lead in the Sanguem constituency.
While Capt. Viriato tried his best to reach every corner of the Sanguem constituency during the short campaign period made available at his disposal after the delayed announcement of his candidature, there were complaints particularly from voters in the hilly areas that Capt. Viriato did not visit their villages during his campaign.
The villages such as Netravali, Rivona and Bhati are much expected to vote in large numbers for the BJP, while the situation in Curdi-Wadem may be slightly different as there are traditional Congress voters who are expected to vote for Capt. Viriato.
At the end of the polling day, Sanguem MLA Subhash Phal Dessai was confident and claimed that the BJP would take a maximum lead in the Sanguem constituency, which would help the party to neutralise the extra votes polled by INDI Alliance candidate in other parts of South Goa.
Sanguem constituency had a poll percentage of 82.2% votes with as many as 10,293 male voters and 11,694 female voters casting their franchise. The highlight of the poll day is 100 percent of votes being polled in the BJP-dominated hilly areas of Salgini and Mangal.
