Vijai, Damu locked in battle for supremacy
MARGAO
The main contestants in the fray for the Fatorda seat, Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and BJP candidate Damu Naik, are locked in a fierce battle for supremacy for the fourth time in a row over the last decade and a half.
When the duo had first crossed swords with each other for the first time in 2007, Damu got the better of his rival. Vijai, however, bounced back five years later in the 2012 poll and went on to retain the seat in 2017 on the Goa Forward Party banner.
On paper, Fatorda constituency is witnessing a six-cornered contest between sitting MLA Vijai Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party, former MLA Damu Naik (BJP), Adv Seoula Vas (TMC), Sandesh Telekar (AAP), Valerie Fernandes (Revolutionary Goans Party) and Independent Michael Ferns.
The ground reality, however, shows that the battle has almost narrowed down between the two arch political rivals, vying for supremacy over Fatorda. As Vijai and Damu are slogging on the ground in yet another battle, the presence of Trinamool Congress candidate Adv Seoula Vas and Aam Aadmi Party's Sandesh Telekar is being closely watched by political observers. In the 2017 polls, AAP had polled around 1,500 votes in Fatorda, with many saying it had a bearing on Vijai’s victory margin.
This time around, Vijai will have to contend with the TMC factor. TMC’s young candidate had carved out a niche for herself in the 2021 Margao municipal polls. Her late entry on the Fatorda battlefield may have resulted in a late start to her campaign. Observers, however, say Seoula is a candidate to be closely watched as any major gains by her may have a bearing on the election result.
Ground reality shows that Vijai and Damu have not left anything to chance ahead of the February 14 battle. Damu seemed to have gone about systematically in a bid to avenge his successive defeats. He has capitalized on the resentment brewing amongst non-BJP voters over Vijai’s honeymoon with the BJP in 2019. As part of a plan, he tried to reach out to the crucial Scheduled Tribe (ST) vote. Buoyed by the success in the municipal polls, when he got a couple of ST candidates elected to the civic body on the BJP banner, Damu has not stopped wooing the ST community at every given opportunity to strengthen his position in the constituency.
The Goa Forward chief, on the other hand, too tried to make repeated inroads into the BJP territory. Aware that his decision to prop up the BJP government in 2017 has not gone down well with a section of his core voters, Vijai has gone about systematically to make inroads into the BJP to make good setbacks, if any, in his home turf.
Both Vijai and challenger Damu have a task cut out “ to retain their respective voter base and wait for the bonus vote from either side to keep them in good stead.
High-profile contest between Babu & Baba
MARGAO
Will Opposition leader Digambar Kamat, affectionately called Baba, maintain his winning streak in Margao as he seeks re-election from his fiefdom for the eight-time in a row since 1994? Or, will Manohar Ajgaonkar, popularly known as Babu in the commercial capital and outside, cut short Digmabar’s innings in the city and ensure the lotus blooms once again in the city after a decade and a half?
The battle for Margao overnight turned high-profile after the BJP fielded Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar to take on Digambar’s might in the city. Babu may have become a candidate in Margao by default after the BJP zeroed in on a new face in his home constituency Pernem. He, however, is not new to Margao, having his roots in the commercial capital, but has a task at hand. The last time the lotus bloomed in Margao was 20 years ago when Digambar had registered his third successive win on the BJP banner. The BJP, however, has failed to regain the seat since the time Digambar quit the BJP to embrace the Congress in 2005.
In fact, BJP’s determined bid to wrest Margao from Congress has come a cropper since 2005. Amongst other reasons, BJP’s successive defeats in Margao are attributed to the party’s inability to make inroads in the migrant areas, which have given unassailable leads to Digambar in every election.
Against this background, observers say the BJP has for the first time fielded a candidate, who is not new to the migrant areas, including the basties near Cine Lata, Gandhi market and Azad Nagar.
Observers, however, say the BJP may face a problem of sorts “ how to retain the traditional 7500-plus vote. It is an open secret the BJP Margao unit is hit by factionalism. Observer says it remains to be seen how the BJP traditional vote reacts to the party’s decision to field a non-Saraswat candidate this time.
One has to wait and watch how the TMC candidate Mahesh Amonkar performs in the election, and whether he would be in a position to make inroads into the Digambar vote-bank.
The remaining two candidates in the fray are Lincoln Vaz (AAP) and Shashiraj Naik Shirodkar (RGP).
The opposition has brought Margao’s development to the centre stage in a bid to suffocate the seven-time MLA. An unfazed Digambar, however, is going about systematically as he has set his eyes for a record eighth win. Banking on his accessibility and the jobs he has provided to the unemployed during his stint as Chief Minister, the Opposition leader downplays any threat from the BJP or other parties. In fact, he goes about drumming support for his candidature by asking Madgavkars to vote for a candidate, who may head the next government if Congress returns to power.
With five days to go for polling, Madgavkars have a question or two “ can Babu Ajgaonkar retain the BJP traditional vote and also garner the additional vote by storming the migrant basties. And, will Digambar maintain his stranglehold over the migrant vote bank and have a slice of the BJP traditional vote?
