the goan I network
CANACONA
With former rivals of one camp joining hands to lead a formidable front, the opposition has been left to work out different strategies to remain in the fight.
The varying campaign styles of the BJP and Congress in the State’s southernmost taluka of Canacona has generated considerable interest among people and poll pundits alike.
The BJP campaign is in full steam, with both leaders, former minister Ramesh Tawadkar and former MLA Vijay Poi Khot, spearheading two teams of party workers to campaign in favour of BJP candidate Narendra Sawaikar.
Tawadkar, who was recently elevated as BJP’s vice-president after being re-admitted into the party, has already convened a series of corner meetings in Canacona constituency to canvas for Sawaikar.
Incidentally, Sawaikar and Tawadkar had previously fallen out with each other, after Tawadkar had been denied the party ticket to contest the 2017 assembly election from Canacona constituency. Relations had also been strained between Tawadkar and Khot at the time.
Interestingly, Tawadkar’s team mostly consists of BJP block leaders who had had strained relations with the party after the 2017 polls. They are now seen campaigning vigorously for Sawaikar, indicating that they have now patched up with the BJP.
Ex-Canacona MLA Vijay Poi Khot has been accompanied by some party workers who worked for him during the last assembly polls and they have been covering Agonda village and almost all areas in the municipality.
Both BJP teams have been visiting households and distributing pamphlets to highlight Modi-led BJP government’s achievements and the BJP’s new manifesto.
While Khot has mainly relied on house-to-house interactions, Tawadkar has also met people in their homes but has gone ahead in convening several corner meetings.
On the other hand, Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes, who is single-handedly managing the Congress campaign in Canacona, has been relying on his few but trusted lieutenants to meet the electorate to seek their support for Congress candidate Francisco Sardinha.
Fernandes has already chaired several corner meetings in many parts of Canacona constituency, while many Congress workers have also been meeting voters individually.
Incidentally, with less than a week is to go for the Lok Sabha elections, there has been an absence of major public meetings and a lack of canvassing on loudspeakers by both major political parties.
Incidentally, the AAP campaign has, so far, failed to pickup in Canacona, except for some banners of its candidate, which were put up even before the Election Commission announced the poll schedule. There has been no visible presence of AAP leaders spearheading the party campaign in Canacona.
