the goan I network
PANAJI
In most other houses, people answered the door-bell and Congress workers introduced Joseph to the residents. Joseph is the Deputy Sarpanch of Calangute village and naturally his hold on other parts of the constituency is not as strong as it is in Calangute village.
When asked if people in Almeida Vaddo do not know who Joseph is, a woman replied that people know who he is. But, it seemed that Joseph is not part of their day-to-day lives. And, accessibility to candidate is very critical in elections in Goa.
Joseph’s main rival in the battle for Calangute constituency is sitting BJP MLA Michael Lobo. Michael is known as development man but road condition is not great in Almeida Vaddo, which is in Parra, where Michael belongs.
The approach road to many houses is still not pukka after so many years. On such roads, it is very tough to drive a two-wheeler.
Joseph clearly targeted the bad condition of roads during his campaign.
He said, “The current MLA says that he has done everything, while roads are in such bad condition here in Almeida Vaddo.”
But, is Michael really responsible for bad condition of roads in Almeida Vaddo? A resident, who preferred remaining anonymous, said, “Michael has worked on roads. He has got hot mixing done. But, there are parts of village, where roads are still bad. In one such case, Michael has asked owners to part with portion of their property to build a road, which they haven’t given. So, he is not responsible for road not being there.”
Not all voters attribute bad condition of roads to Michael. Joseph even highlighted erratic power supply. He knocked at the door of one house and the resident informed him that they still don’t have a power connection.
Quickly, Joseph called his team members to take down the resident’s number. But, overall, residents confirmed that water and power aren’t really issues in Almeida Vaddo.
So, what really are the issues here? A resident, who didn’t want to be named said, “Michael is very supportive as a MLA.
But, in BJP, he joined the wrong party. Whether beef issue in other states and medium of instruction (MoI) issue in Goa, BJP has created more communal divide.”
Given that Almeida Vaddo is a predominantly a Catholic village, these issues are likely to have a huge impact on the result of upcoming elections.
But, it remains to be seen whether people will vote for Joseph because he is from Congress and not from BJP.
Interestingly, a lot of people who were campaigning for Joseph were his supporters from his pre-Congress days. Only time will tell what will really happen on February 4.
