MARGAO
A “feel good” factor is what is being looked forward to in neighbouring Fatorda by BJP leaders and workers with the return of seven-time Margao MLA Digambar Kamat into the party-fold after quitting the Congress.
None other than two-time former BJP MLA Damu Naik and Fatorda BJP workers understand the significance of the emerging equation better than anyone else and would not lose the opportunity to capitalize on the unfolding political developments.
It is a sheer coincidence that the Lotus has failed to bloom in Fatorda in the last three Assembly polls ever since Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai and the Margao MLA Digambar Kamat shared a common platform against the BJP.
Consider this. BJP leader Damu made his debut in the Goa Legislative Assembly in 2002 when Kamat was the BJP face down South. He retained Fatorda in the subsequent election in 2007 though Kamat had quit the BJP to embrace the Congress.
Take note, however, that Kamat and Sardesai did not enjoy the best of relations, though they were in the same party, with the latter even accusing the former of fielding an Independent candidate against him.
Political observers, however, say the 2012 Assembly polls brought Kamat and Sardesai together. Sources pointed out that though Sardesai contested the polls as an Independent in 2012, Kamat had lent his covert support, especially support amongst the high class and goldsmith community in favour of Sardesai, facilitating his first electoral victory.
Observers say the political equation in Fatorda also remained unchanged in the 2017 and the 2022 polls, when Sardesai stopped the return of Damu and the BJP in Fatorda in these elections, scoring a hattrick of sorts in the bargain.
Kamat’s return to the BJP-fold again, party leaders in private say, should hopefully create a feel-good factor in Fatorda for Damu and the party.
In fact, observers say Damu and the BJP should look forward to the return of the party voter base amongst the high caste and help consolidate the party’s traditional vote with Kamat around.
For, the BJP still believes that losing the crucial Hindu vote in the last overs of the 2022 Assembly election marred Damu’s prospect of returning to the Assembly, despite a significant minority vote swing in favour of the BJP in the last election.
Political observers, however, have sounded a word of caution. They say whether Kamat’s return to the BJP will create a feel-good factor for the party struggling to make a comeback in Fatorda depends on a host of factors. One is whether Kamat would dare go all out in Fatorda to strengthen the party and risk antagonizing the Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai, who has already held out a threat to open the office of the regional party in Kamat’s backyard.
Secondly, having created a niche for himself amongst the Hindu voters, a factor which played in his favour in the 2022 polls, questions are being raised whether Kamat would manage to make a dent in Sardesai’s vote base, comprising of the Muslim, Christian and Hindu vote.
“It’s too early to say to what extent the Kamat factor would play out in neighbouring Fatorda. Assembly elections are still four and a half years away. One thing is clear that the return of the Margao MLA back into the party should hopefully create a feel-good factor for the saffron brigade in Sardesai’s fiefdom in the changing political equations,” remarked a BJP leader.
