GUILHERME ALMEIDA
One reason why the Congress finally decided to throw its hat in the Zilla Panchayat election ring of the Hand symbol was to apparently tap the strong anti-BJP sentiments to the party’s advantage and further consolidate its position ahead of the 2022 electoral battle.
Minority Salcete must have also weighed heavily on the minds of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Chief Girish Chodankar and Leader of Opposition, Digambar Kamat when the duo had their way in getting the party contest the Zilla Panchayat polls on the party banner, especially for the South Goa seats.
Take note, minority-dominated Salcete had been the power house of the Congress over the years, barring 2012, when the party was decimated in its traditional bastion. The 2017 Assembly election and last year’s Lok Sabha poll saw the Congress reasserting its supremacy in Salcete. Against this backdrop and the fact that as many as nine Zilla Panchayats seats are at stake in Salcete, the Congress leadership may certainly hope to bank on its traditional stronghold to win as many seats as possible to reach the magic figure of 13 to control the 25-member South Goa Zilla panchayat.
The Congress, however, has a clear task at hand if the main opposition party hopes to reestablish its hold over the South ZP -- surmount the challenge from a group of strong Independents in as many as four seats and contain the fire power of NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, especially in the two crucial seats of Benaulim and Colva.
As usual, the BJP isn’t going to be Congress’ No 1 political enemy in this minority taluka. In fact, the ruling party in a strategic move has fielded only candidates in the constituencies of Davorlim and Guirdolim. BJP’s game plan appears simple “ to retain the Davorlim seat and ensure that the Congress does not fly high again in Guirdolim. As things stand today, the BJP appears comfortably placed in Davorlim, with the Congress grappling with rebellion in its ranks over the selection of its candidate.
But, the biggest challenge before the Congress, more so to Opposition leader Digambar Kamat and PCC Chief Girish Chodankar is the presence of strong Independents in the fray in the four constituencies of Velim, Navelim, Nuvem and Raia. Coincidentally, these four constituencies are part and parcel of the Assembly segments represented by the two Congress-turned-BJP MLAs, Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues and Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa.
Going by recent utterances, the Congress party is expected to fall back on issues such as the contentious CAA, defections in its arsenal to take the battle to the enemy camp in these four seats. The ground reality, however, indicates these four independents two-time ZP member Cipru Cardozo (Navelim), two-time ZP member Domnic Gaonkar (Raia), one-time ZP member Anthony Rodrigues (Velim) and former Nuvem Sarpanch Dr Breeze Barretto (Nuvem) have emerged as strong candidates, posing a challenger of sorts for the Congress leadership in their traditional stronghold.
That’s not all. With two seats at stake along Salcete coastal belt, Benaulim and Colva, the Congress may be anxious to recover the lost ground in Benaulim constituency. Here too, the Congress will have to grapple with the Churchill factor as the sitting Benaulim NCP MLA is expected to go all out to protect his fort from crumbling. Churchill’s honeymoon with the BJP government by way of extending “issue-based” support to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is expected to dominate Congress’ campaign in Benaulim and Colva. But, how much will it help the Congress in terms of votes remains to be seen.
The Aam Aadmi Party has made its presence felt in the Zilla Panchayat election fray for the first time. With Assembly election 2022 in mind, AAP has fielded candidates in as many as seven out of the nine seats at stake in Salcete. In the 2017 Assembly election, AAP candidates made their presence felt in Salcete, only to lose steam in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. What’s up the sleeves of AAP convenor Elvis Gomes remains to be seen this time round.
Of all the players in the fray in Salcete, the stakes are indeed high for the Congress. Party’s ambitious plan to regain control over the South Goa Zilla Panchayat may go haywire if the party fails to pocket majority seats in its stronghold of Salcete.
