BICHOLIM
Not only were both GSM candidates, Prof Atmaram Gaonkar (Mayem) and former minister Dr Suresh Amonkar (Sakhali), defeated in the polls, they were placed a distant third in their respective constituencies.
While Prof Gaonkar polled 2,317 votes and was way behind BJP MLA Pravin Zantye (12,430) and Santosh Sawant (7,456) in Mayem, Dr Amonkar could muster only 3,831, well behind BJP MLA Dr Pramod Sawant (10,058) and Dharmesh Saglani (7,927).
During the election campaign, senior GSM leaders like Subhash Velingkar had campaigned hard to persuade the voters about the importance of regional languages and the need to do away with government grants to English-medium primary schools.
Such was the response to public and corner meetings convened by the GSM, that its leaders were confident of victory of their candidates, Prof Gaonkar and Dr Amonkar.
The elections results revealed otherwise, with both candidates trounced in the polls. The real fight turned out to be between the Congress and the BJP, indicating that MoI was a non-issue for voters of Mayem and Sankhali constituencies.
When contacted, Prof Gaonkar justified his defeat by claiming that the BJP
had used money power to influence voters.
“Though there was a good response from voters in the initial stages, the number of my votes was reduced as BJP
used money power barely four days prior to elections,” said Prof Gaonkar.
On the other hand, Dr Amonkar said his defeat was not because people had rejected the MoI issue, but because the EVMs were faulty.
“GSM candidates suffered a severe setback in terms of fewer number of votes due to faulty EVMs. The party has decided to file a petition before the Election Commission to conduct a thorough check of EVMs,” he said.
“I am suspicious about the EVMs, due to which votes polled by GSM candidates were very less and like Mayawati in UP we too have decided to demand a thorough checking of EVMs,” said Dr Amonkar. “Compared to the response we got during the pre-election public and corner meetings on MoI issue, we feel that votes polled by GSM candidates in Sakhali and Mayem were too low,” he added.
Asked if the GSM would continue its MoI agitation, Dr Amonkar replied: “Our demand to stop grants to English medium schools has not been fulfilled. The
party will continue its agitation. But, the GSM has also decided to concentrate on other basic issues.”
