The cancellation of the Ponda by-election after the Bombay High Court at Goa quashed the Election Commission of India’s notification less than a day before polling was to start may have halted the electoral test for now but it has sparked accusations and new rivalries within the two major political parties in the fray -- the ruling Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Congress.
For the BJP, the abruptly cancelled process and campaign has exposed internal fault lines.
Ritesh Naik, the younger son of Ravi Naik whose death prompted the by-poll, had secured the ticket. But now for the prized nomination in 2027, he faces resistance from the party's South District President Vishwanath (Apurv) Dalvi, a long-time karyakarta who believes his seniority and grassroots work entitle him to the nomination.
The party leadership will now once again be hard pressed to make the choice between the two, even as the Opposition parties push the narrative that the saffron party influenced the ECI to cancel the polls.
Opposition leaders argue that the by-poll cancellation has bought time for the BJP to settle their internal disputes. The party on the other hand dismisses the charge as political opportunism.
The Congress is no less divided than the BJP as its by-poll candidate, Ketan Bhatikar, will be vying for the 2027 ticket against Rajesh Verenkar, who incidentally had also performed strongly in the 2022 assembly elections.
The by-poll cancellation has reignited tensions between the two camps which even spilled into the public domain as Verenkar publicly announced his readiness to contest in the face of Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao seemingly throwing his lot behind Bhatikar.
In a deft move, the party has also approached the Supreme Court with pleas to reverse the High Court verdict and holding of the by-polls without delay. Its leaders argue that the cancellation undermines the electorate’s right to representation.
GPCC president, Amit Patkar even described it as the darkest episode in Goa's democracy.
The Aam Aadmi Party, the third political entity which was in the fray, is seemingly least affected by the cancellation though. It used the brief campaign to introduce its candidate, Gitesh Naik, a newcomer to electoral politics and grow the party's visibility. Its leaders have now pivoted to local issues, calling for improved healthcare facilities and civic infrastructure in Ponda.
With the by-election shelved, the battle for Ponda will now inevitably shift from the ground to boardrooms. For the BJP and Congress, the immediate challenge is quelling the internal rivalries before they escalate and begin to hurt politically.
Meanwhile, as Ponda waits for clarity, the by-poll cancellation fiasco has underscored a larger truth in Goa’s complex political arena: cancelled polls can also be as consequential as contested ones with ambitions of wannabe legislators remaining stronger than before.
