the goan I network
MARGAO
Can the Congress regain its past glory in Benaulim through the ensuing Zilla Panchayat polls and position itself strongly to wrest the seat in the 2022 Assembly electoral battle?
For an answer, one needs to delve into the election record books to see how the Congress has been literally on the downslide in the minority heartland after maintaining a stranglehold over the constituency throughout the 80s.
In fact, it’s now 18 long years since the Congress has been out of power in the minority heartland, along Salcete’s coastal belt, spanning from Cavelossim, the hub of world’s finest resorts to the world famous tourist village of Colva.
The last time Congress’ flag fluttered high across Benaulim was around two decades ago when incumbent NCP MLA Churchill Alemao won the seat for the national party. Since then, the Congress has been virtually pushed out of the Benaulim political landscape, witnessing a downslide, in a constituency pre-dominantly Catholic, with the party either conceding the seat to the NCP or the local players.
The Congress’ downfall in Benaulim started way back in the 2002 Assembly poll when former Minister Mickky Pacheco, contesting on the regional Party United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP), ended Churchill Alemao’s near decade-and-half year rule over the coastal belt.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) made its presence felt in Benaulim when the party was headed by former Chief Minister late Dr Wilfred de Souza. Following Mickky’s resignation, the NCP, which had a tie-up with the Congress at that time, fielded him in the by-election that followed in the wake of the political developments. Mickky not only won the by-poll, but the NCP established in Benaulim when he retained the seat in the 2007 Assembly election.
The Congress tried to gain a foothold over Benaulim in the subsequent election in 2012, but in vain.
Churchill Alemao’s daughter Valanka, contesting on the Congress banner, could not overcome the strong anti-Congress wave that swept minority Salcete in that election, with Benaulikars voting for Goa Vikas Party candidate Caitu Silva to represent them in the Legislative Assembly.
Three years ago in 2017, Churchill made a comeback in Benaulim after his 2002 loss to Mickky Pacheco, this time on the NCP banner, warding off a challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party, with the Congress relegated to a distant third.
Sources in the Congress say the party took the decision to field candidates for the Benaulim and Colva Zilla Panchayat seats in Benaulim Assembly segments to consolidate the gains the party made in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. It is not out of place to mention here that the Congress put up a good show in Benaulim in last year’s Lok Sabha election, giving a sizeable lead for Lok Sabha MP Francisco Sardinha.
Against this backdrop, the Congress leadership apparently felt that the ensuing Zilla Panchayat poll is a launch pad for the party to make inroads in Benaulim and brace up for the Assembly election due in two year-time in 2022.
NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, however, seems to have read the Congress’s game plan. Aware that a free run for the Congress in the Zilla Panchayat election may only help the national party to organise and consolidate itself ahead of the 2022 battle, the NCP’s lone MLA has plunged himself in the campaign in support of his candidates to stop his fort from crumbling.
