MARGAO
Trinamool Congress party Rajya Sabha MP Luizinho Faleiro is finally out of the fray, but in comes party’s new and young face, Adv Seoula Vas, setting the stage for a keen tussle for the Fatorda seat where Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai is locked in fierce battle with long time political foe, BJP’s Damu Naik.
After announcing his withdrawal as the party candidate for Fatorda, Faleiro handed over the baton to Adv Seoula in the presence of TMC Goa in-charge, Mohua Moitra and TMC MLA Churchill Alemao. The city-based lawyer lost no time in telling the media that she is delighted to take on the Goa Forward chief, blaming Sardesai for the political instability. That she insisted that there are two BJPs in Fatorda, one comprising of the Lotus foot and the other coconut foot, Adv Seoula said the TMC is determined to eradicate both so that the correct spirit can rise in Fatorda.
The TMC State in-charge said the party has given an option for the people of Fatorda by fielding a new and clean face. Reiterating that it was not a last minute decision, Moitra rejected that TMC’s entry will split the secular vote in Fatorda.
Moitra said, “We are here to give a great fight in Fatorda. If you miss this chance to vote a fresh, credible candidate now, do not blame us later that you did not have a choice. We have taken this decision in favour of an educated young dynamic woman who is not connected to any political family.”
She added: “We are here not to give last minute option, but a true and honest option for the people of Fatorda, who do not want the BJP. The people had to choose between the BJP and Vijai Sardesai, who is the commander-in-chief of the BJP and the Congress has given him a walkover by conceding the Fatorda seat.”
As news of TMC fielding Adv Seoula spread across Fatorda and neighbouring Margao, political observers have been trying to assess the emerging political situation and its fall out on the two major players, the Goa Forward and the BJP.
Adv Seoula shot into the limelight over a half and year ago when she took up issues plaguing the commercial capital. And, she created a space for her in the 2021 election for the Margao Municipal polls where she contested in the Fatorda area of the civic body. Adv Seoula lost the election, but not before surprising poll pundits as she managed to poll over 400 votes, virtually heralding her entry into Fatorda’s political arena.
While the Congress has conceded the Fatorda seat to the Goa Forward as part of the alliance deal, the Aam Aadmi Party, which had polled around 1,500 votes in the 2017 election, has fielded its candidate in Fatorda.
