MAPUSA
Former minister and Congress candidate Michael Lobo is involved in a multi-cornered contest for the Calangute seat, while going for a hat-trick.
He’s considered to have a good grip in the coastal constituency and therefore the pressure of winning is on him.
In the 2017 election, Lobo on the BJP ticket had defeated the Congress candidate Joseph Sequeira by a comfortable margin of 3,825 votes.
This time the roles are reversed. Lobo is contesting on Congress ticket while Sequeira is fighting on BJP’s symbol.
The presence of five other candidates “ AAP’s Sudesh Mayekar, TMC’s Anthony Menezes, Roshan Mathias as a candidate of Goencho Swabhiman Party, Marcelino Gonsalves on RGP and Ricardo D’Souza as Independent makes it an interesting electoral duel.
In the 2017 election, BJP won the Calangute seat hands down with Congress coming second and AAP at a distant third spot.
This time around, TMC’s Anthony Menezes is expected to give the national parties a run for their money while AAP, with Mayekar as the candidate, is expected to put up a better show than the last time.
As per the district administration’s 2022 data, the total voters in Calangute are 25,493, with 13,097 women and 12,396 men.
Many people have mixed reactions about the development work in the high-profile constituency.
According to a resident of Sauntha-vaddo, Calangute, S Narvekar, Calangute has seen haphazard development in the last 10 years and the villagers have to struggle even for basic issues like water and power.
“We get water only for few hours and on alternate days in this part of the village. Secondly, during the peak tourism season we have to face power cuts for as long as six to 10 hours a day,” Narvekar rued.
A resident of Candolim said that people of this coastal village were better off 20 years back than what was happening now.
“With the rise in traffic and miss-managed parking, even going to a barber’s shop is becoming an uphill task. We locals are no longer in the position to decide,” the resident said, requesting anonymity.
The 33/11 KV gas insulated power substation at Arradi, Calangute was to be commissioned in December 2021 but the work is still not completed. The sewerage treatment plant is rotting as the sewerage system is yet to be commissioned even after eight years, while water woes continue to haunt the residents.
With the negative opinions on his performance, Lobo cannot take his hat-trick attempt casually, especially with the new candidates on the prowl.
