MARGAO
Unassuming and low-profile Aam Aadmi Party candidate Cruz Silva had finished third in the 2017 polls when then Congress candidate Filipe Nery Rodrigues had regained Velim after defeating Independent candidate Benjamin D’Silva.
Five years down the line, Cruz has made it to the Legislative Assembly as the Aam Aadmi Party created history by winning the Velim seat. In the bargain, he wrested the seat from the Congress by defeating key players, including Filipe Nery and Benjamin D’Silva in the husting.
In fact, Cruz won the seat by defeating his nearest Congress rival Savio D’Silva by a margin of 169 votes. While Cruz polled 5390, Savio ended his campaign by polling 5221 votes. TMC Benjamin D’Silva finished third with 4134 votes.
The Revolutionary Goans Party sprang a surprise when its candidate Dagley Fernandes polled 3653 votes, relegating NCP candidate and ex-Minister, Filipe Nery Rodrigues, who polled 3420 votes, to the fifth place on the ladder.
BJP candidate Savio Rodrigues ended his campaign for the Velim seat with 1331 votes.
A beaming Cruz Silva attributed his victory to the hard work done by the volunteers. “In this election, huge money was pumped in to woo the voters, but we banked on the support of the people. Last five years, our hard-working volunteers moved door to door, spreading AAP’s message,” he said.
Defying poll pundits, who had predicted a close fight between ex-Minister Filipe Nery Rodrigues, Trinamool Congress nominee Benjamin D’Silva and Congress candidate Savio D’Silva, Cruz romped home to victory by a slender margin.
The poll results came as a big surprise after Filipe Nery was placed fifth behind RGP candidate, Dagley Fernandes.
Incidentally, many had written off Congress’s Savio D’Silva from day one, but the Velim Sarpanch proved his opponents wrong when he finished second with 5221 votes.
