MARGAO
Has Mission Salcete “ a minority outreach exercise initiated by former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, no longer finds an appeal with the present BJP dispensation? Or, is it simply that the objective is better achieved when non-BJP parties compete with the Congress for the same political space in the minority stronghold Salcete?
Consider this. At the inauguration of BJP South Goa election office at Margao, many must have anticipated Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to harp on “Mission Salcete” in a bid to woo the minorities ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
As it turned out, however, the Chief Minister made no mention of Mission Salcete, late Parrikar’s initiative in the 2004 Lok Sabha, when the former Chief Minister hopped from one village to another in minority Salcete to drum up support for the party candidate exactly two decades ago.
Instead, Sawant was quick to make a pointed reference to the unfolding developments in the opposition camp, especially Aam Aadmi Party (AAP’s) decision to contest the South Goa seat, going to the extent of saying the development has rendered the INDIA bloc defunct and non-existent.
Indeed, with the Revolutionary Goans declaring party candidate for South Goa, none other than the Chief Minster knows for sure how AAP’s decision to field party MLA Venzy Viegas has rung in good news for the party leadership and the cadre, as the ruling party is making a strong bid to wrest the South Goa seat from the Congress in 2024.
For, both the Revolutionary Goans candidate and the AAP nominee for the South Goa Lok Sabha polls hail from minority Salcete. That’s not all. Both these political parties, including the RG made deep inroads in the Congress bastion Salcete in the 2022 Assembly polls. While AAP had won the two seats of Velim and Benaulim in the minority stronghold, the RG made an impressive debut in the minority heartland, leaving the Congress stranded midway, with the party winning just three out of the eight Assembly seats at stake in Salcete.
In the event these two non-BJP, non-Congress parties contest the election for the South Goa seat, political observers say the BJP leadership is expected to go all out to consolidate its traditional vote in the constituency and hope for a vertical split in the Congress voter base, especially in minority Salcete where the ruling dispensation has failed to make deep inroads over the years.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had to grapple with the AAP factor after the Arvind Kejriwal-led party fielded its then State convenor Elvis Gomes for the South Goa seat. The Congress came up trumps even though AAP polled sizeable votes, mostly from the minority stronghold. Observers, however, are quick to point out that the MGP factor played a key role and dented BJP’s prospects in the final analysis.
Commenting on the development, political commentator Adv Cleofato Coutinho said it’s early to say how things will unfold in South Goa in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls. He, however, was quick to point out that AAP’s decision for the moment may have a bearing on the undecided voters. “At the same time, however, we do not know whether AAP or for that matter RG will remain in the fray in the election. As of now, we also do not know how the campaign would unfold and who will be the candidates of the BJP and the Congress,” he said.
A political observer reminded of the Congress defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. “A host of political parties vying for the Congress space had throw their hat in the South Goa election ring, splitting the traditional Congress vote, with the Lotus blooming in South Goa with a 30,000 vote margin,” he said.
