the goan I network
MARGAO
Will Mahrashtrawadi Gomantak Party’s (MGP) decision to support the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha poll come as a dampener to the ruling BJP-led govt at a time when sitting MP Narendra Sawaikar was going all out to retain the seat, with focus on the hinterland talukas of South Goa constituency? MGP Chief Sudin Dhavlikar’s prediction that MGP’s support to the Congress would sway thousands of party votes to the Congress in South Goa may be termed as exaggeration by the ruling party. Observers, however, say that the BJP may be left stranded midway if the Lion roars even in just two Assembly segments “ the crucial segments of Madkai and Sanvordem, where the MGP wields considerable influence, and where the Congress has little or negligible presence.
Take the case of Madkai and Sanvordem, where the Lion roared in the 2017 Assembly election. It’s another mater that Sanvordem is now represented by the BJP after MLA Deepak Pauskar crossed over to the ruling party after last month’s midnight political drama.
A glance at the Lok Sabha poll statistics reveals that both Madkai and Sanvordem holds considerable significance for the BJP, with observers saying that change in voting pattern may have a bearing on the overall vote tally.
Otherwise, consider this. Sitting MP Narendra Sawaikar had won the 2014 Lok Sabha election with a margin of 32,330 votes and statistics show that Sawaikar’s victory margin was directly proportional with the BJP vote margin in both Madkai and Sanvordem segments.
In fact, out of the 32,330 vote victory margin, statistics show that Madkai and Sanvordem had together accounted for a victory lead of close to 23,000 votes to the BJP, around 22,986 to be precise.
Statistics show that both Madkai and Sanvordem had registered heavy polling in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, with the Congress nowhere close to the ruling party. If the BJP had polled 14,056 vote in Madkai, the Congress was stranded way behind polling only 2913 votes. Similar was the fate of the Congress in Sanvordem segment. While Sawaikar had polled 16243 vote, Congress’s Reginaldo Lourenco had to be content with only 4400 votes. The BJP had got a lead of 11143 and 11843 votes in Madkai and Sanvordem, enough to dilute the huge gains by the Congress candidate in its traditional stronghold Salcete.
That’s not all. Madkai has been the fiefdom of MGP supremo Sudin Dhavlikar over the years. The million dollar question that remains unanswered is whether the BJP leadership will be able to stop the MGP supremo from playing spoil sport not just in Madkai and Sanvordem, but in other segments in the hinterland taluka such as Sanguem, Canacona, Curhcorem, Shiroda, besides pockets of Mormugao taluka.
