Benaulim, Velim and Nuvem play big role in party’s win
INDIA bloc leaders from Salcete who contributed to the victory of Captain Viriato with focus on Salcete.
Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Salcete stood like a rock behind the Congress as the minority-stronghold gave a whopping 62,839-vote lead for Captain Viriato Fernandes, once again leaving the ruling BJP stranded in its quest to regain the South Goa seat.
Leading the pack of Assembly segments in Salcete which gave huge and unassailable lead for the Congress are the two Aam Aadmi Party segments of Benaulim and Velim, besides Nuvem, the three segments which had time and again come to the rescue of the Congress in many a recent Lok Sabha election.
That’s not all. What has further given a boost to Captain Viriato was that remaining segments also played a big role in his overall lead from Salcete. Curtorim, Cuncolim as well as Navelim witnessed a surge in the Congress lead, contributing to Captain’s overall lead tally.
Perhaps for the first time in recent Lok Sabha elections, Fatorda, represented by Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai, gave a comprehensive 2,437-vote lead for the Congress. The Congress also managed to do well in neighbouring Margao. Hopes raised in the BJP camp that defection of Margao MLA Digambar Kamat from the Congress to the BJP would keep the saffron party in good stead in the Lok Sabha election, were all dashed after the party ended up in taking a slender 1,323-vote lead in the constituency.
Take the case of Benaulim. The Assembly segment represented by Aam Aadmi Party MLA Venzy Viegas gave Captain Viriato 16,687 votes as against a meager 2,506 votes polled by Pallavi Dempo.
Velim, represented by AAP MLA Cruz Silva is another case in point. Captain Viriato polled a whopping 17,251 votes as against Pallavi’s 3,901 votes, giving an unassailable 13,350-vote lead for the Congress.
Nuvem Assembly segment, represented by Salcete’s lone Minister Aleixo Sequeira, had raised hopes in the BJP camp that the heavyweight politician would help reduce Congress lead in the minority-dominated segment, but in vain. The game plan, however, failed to click as a result of which the Congress managed to garner an unassailable lead of 13,688-vote lead from Nuvem.
Curtorim is another constituency which rallied strongly behind the Congress in the absence of big time leaders. For, Independent Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco had extended his overt and covert support for the BJP, while Congress MP Francisco Sardinha had stayed away from the Congress campaign after being denied the party ticket. Take note, RGP candidate Rupert Pereira not only hailed from Curtorim segment, but he had polled impressive votes from the segment in the 2022 Assembly polls.
Local Congress and AAP leaders, along with the people, however, all rallied behind the Congress candidate to the hilt as evident by the fact that the Congress polled close to 15,000 votes, around 14,975 vote to be precise. The BJP had to be content with just 5,787 votes, giving an unassailable 9,188-vote lead for the Congress.
The biggest surprise for the Congress came from Cuncolim, the segment represented in the Goa Legislative Assembly by Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao. In an unprecedented show of strength, the Congress polled 12,957 votes as against BJP’s 7,409 votes, giving Captain Viriato a lead of 5,548 lead.
Navelim too contributed its mite to the Congress kitty despite the segment represented by BJP MLA Ulhas Tuenkar. While Tuenkar may be content in the fact that he has protected his vote share when the party polled 7,151 vote, the Congress polled a huge 12,921 vote, giving Captain Viriato around 5,770-vote lead.
The Congress candidate maintained its winning streak in Fatorda as well, represented by Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai. Perhaps for the first time in recent Lok Sabha election, the Congress romped home with an impressive 2,437-vote lead against the BJP.
Incidentally, the Congress must have not got the lead in Margao after the defection of Digambar Kamat into the BJP. The party, however, proved a point or two to the BJP camp and the Congress-turned-BJP MLA when the BJP lead in Margao was reduced to just 1,323 votes when Kamat and the party was expecting 6,000-vote plus lead, thus contributing to Captain Viriato’s victory to retain the South Goa seat.
