the goan I network
MARGAO
Bereft of a strong cadre-based organization, South Goa Congress candidate Francisco Sardinha will have no other option but to knock the doors of the local satraps within the Congress and outside in support of his candidature as he kicks off his campaign to play his fourth innings as MP in his long career spanning over four decades.
With local party set-ups controlled by the MLAs, where party workers are directly under the command of the political satraps, the Congress candidate has been criss-crossing the length and breadth of the South Goa constituency interacting with local leaders, be it MLAs, former ministers and MLAs and other party big wigs to drum up support for his candidature.
Sardinha may be one politician who has friends and well wishers in all camps, cutting across political and religious boundaries, but the Congress candidate cannot afford to ignore the local satraps if he hopes to make a dent in the constituency.
Each of the 20 Assembly segments that make up the South Goa Constituency has its own set of leaders, who exercise control over the party organization than vice versa. If former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat’s writ runs large in the Congress set up in Margao, the party organization in neighbouring Navelim is controlled by former Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro.
Sardinha knows for sure that Ponda strongman Ravi Naik will play an important role in his scheme of things. The Congress candidate in particular and the party in general will certainly look at the former chief minister to hold the party’s fort in Ponda taluka, which has three Assembly segments of Ponda, Madkai and Shiroda.
Leader of the Opposition Babu Kavlekar in Quepem, MLA Isidore Fernandes in Canacona, Filipe Neri in Velim and Wilfred D’Sa and Clafacio Dias in Nuvem and Cuncolim, respectively, will be the host of Congress MLAs who will be the cynosure of all eyes as the Congress kicks off its campaign to regain the South Goa seat from the BJP.
Political observers say that candidates, more so for big elections such as the Lok Sabha, have no alternative but to depend on the local satraps for the much-needed support. “Unlike the BJP which banks on its cadre, the Congress does not enjoy organizational supremacy over the elected representatives, be they ministers or MLAs. The problem is further aggravated when the local MLAs in question are around for a long time and maintain stranglehold over the party set-up,” remarked a local observer.
Apart from the party bigwigs, the three-time former MP has a task to woo the satraps belonging to other parties, such as NCP MLA Churchill Alemao representing Benaulim constituency and the Dhavalikar brothers who are a force to reckon with.
The Benaulim MLA, sources said, had lobbied hard with the party leadership to get the South Goa ticket for daughter Valanka. With Valanka’s ticket claim not finding favour with the Congress leadership, it remains to be seen how Sardinha will handle the Churchill factor in the ensuing election as the NCP MLA enjoys sizeable clout along Salcete’s coastal belt “ a vote which the Congress candidate cannot afford to lose.
