the goan I network
PANAJI
The public campaign for the April 23 elections to the two North Goa and South Goa seats, and the simultaneous by-elections to the three assembly constituencies of Mandrem, Mapusa and Shiroda will come to a close at 5 pm on Sunday.
While the battle for honours is primarily between the two main political parties -- Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress -- for the two Lok Sabha seats, in the Assembly by-election it’s a two-horse race in Mapusa and Shiroda. In the third seat of Mandrem, the presence of a strong Independent could make it a triangular fight.
In Mapusa, the battle is between the BJP’s Joshua D’Souza and the Congress’ Sudhir Kandolkar and most believe it will go down to the wire. Also, the presence of the AAP candidate Shekar Naik is seen as making not much impact on the outcome. Observers say it would be an achievement if the party retains its 2000-odd vote share it cornered in the constituency in 2017.
In Shiroda, the BJP’s Subhash Shirodkar is facing a no-holds-barred challenge from the MGP’s Deepak Dhavlikar with former minister Mahadev Naik who has been fielded by the Congress seen left far behind.
In the third seat of Mandrem, the BJP’s Dayanand Sopte faces a stiff challenge from the Independent in the fray Jeet Arolkar. But the Congress’ Babi Bagkar too is a formidable contender given the party’s assured support base, particularly in the coastal villages of the constituency making the contest a three-cornered affair.
In the North Goa parliamentary constituency, although there are six candidates, the battle is apparently a head-on fight between AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik of the BJP and the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president, Girish Chodankar.
The third political party in the fray, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) through its general secretary, Pradeep Padgaonkar, is unlikely to corner much of the vote to make any significant impact, political observers say. Padgaonkar’s campaign too lacked the edge and the party lagged far behind of its two better poised rivals -- BJP and Congress.
Similarly in South Goa, sitting MP Narendra Sawaikar of the BJP and the Congress’ veteran Francisco Sardinha are battling it out on the frontlines, with Elvis Gomes of AAP expected to pick up a chunk of his vote tally from the minority-dominated Salcete taluka.
In the north, the Sattari fiefdom of the father-son Rane duo -- Pratapsing and Vishwajit -- is one segment where the Congress’ Chodankar will still be guessing which way the wind will blow. But barring the Poriem and Valpoi segments of this taluka, his campaign team has put up a spirited show in the Mayem, Sanquelim and Bicholim assembly constituencies in the eastern hinterland, which has traditionally backed the rival BJP in successive parliamentary polls won by Naik in the past.
In the seven assembly segments of Bardez -- Tivim, Aldona, Porvorim, Saligao, Calangute, Siolim and Mapusa -- the Congress has managed to galvanize its ground force but the BJP is no pushover with an organised band of ‘Karyakatas’ right to the booth level. The story is similar in Tiswadi but the entry of Atanasio Monserrate into the party on Wednesday gives the Congress an edge, even if on paper, in the five segments of the taluka. The twin segments of Mandrem and Pernem in the nothernmost taluka is where Naik of the BJP will be hoping to race ahead of the Congress’ Chodankar, who however will be banking on the MGP support booster to narrow down the lead, much as the case would be in the Priol assembly segment, the only one from the South Goa district to be appended to the North Goa Parliamentary Constituency.
Conversely in South Goa, the latent political edge which BJP enjoys in the North is worn on the sleeve by the Congress owing to its traditional bastion of Salcete, which accounts for eight of the 20 Assembly segments that make up the parliamentary seat.
True Sawaikar holds the seat by virture of his comfortable victory of 30,000-plus vote margin in 2014. But retaining the seat in the April 23 polling could be a herculean task for him against Sardinha fielded by the Congress. The latter is hoping to maximize his advantage in Salcete, ably aided by top party leaders including former chief ministers Digambar Kamat and Luizinho Faleiro, besides, other legislators.
The presence of AAP’s Gomes, however, could be a dampener and the Congress corner is leaving no stone unturned to paint him as a ‘spoiler’ in a bid to limit the division of the primarily anti-BJP political landscape of Salcete.
What has given Congress’ Sardinha a seeming advantage over the BJP’s Sawaikar is the spirited support demonstrated to his campaign by the
MGP’s Sudin Dhavlikar apparently emanating from his seething anger over his ouster from the BJP-led coalition government in the State.
With Dhavalikar and the other Ponda heavyweight Ravi Naik on its side, the Congress’ Sardinha camp is banking to nullify the BJP’s past record of doing well in this taluka’s three assembly segments -- Ponda, Marcaim and Shiroda.
In Mormugao, although the BJP holds all the four assembly seats, both Sardinha and Sawaikar seem to be on an even keel, although Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho who is the latter’s campaign manager is trying his utmost to ensure an advantage for the lotus.
Its Sanguem and Quepem which account for four assembly segments, where again the BJP has a traditional vote base but with Opposition Leader Chandrakant Babu Kavlekar in-charge of the Congress’ campaign, the ruling party cannot take the advantage for granted.
In the southernost Canacona, the seat is held by Congress’ Isidore Fernandes who is working overtime to campaign for the party, but the BJP’s two leaders -- Ramesh Tawardkar and Vijai Pai Khot -- seem to working in tandem.
All said and done, the voter could have his own story to tell through the EVMs where he/she will cast the all important vote. What that story Goa’s voter wants to tell, will be will be known only on May 23, when the votes trapped in the EVMs will be unraveled at the counting scheduled by the Election Commission.
