MARGAO
One issue that showed signs of coming to sharp focus in the run up to the Zilla Panchayat polls scheduled on March 22 last was the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). With anti-CAA rallies and protests order of the day then, the issue had found a mention at the campaign of both the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress.
The CAA is no more an issue in December. Instead, questions on environment, coal hub, track doubling, the three linear projects et al may take the centre stage, especially in South Goa, in the next few days before the Zilla panchayats go to the polls on December 12.
Take note, the three linear projects, including track doubling and coal handling may be restricted to just a couple of Zilla panchayat constituencies in down South. And, these projects may fall beyond the scope and domain of the Zilla panchayat bodies, others may say.
The fact, however, remains that the Opposition is expected to go all out to cash in on the popular sentiments, not just in the areas that played host to the agitation, but beyond the boundaries and constituencies to be hit by these controversial projects.
That’s not all. Some of the Zilla panchayat candidates and their supporters have been active participants in the ongoing agitation against track doubling and coal handling. They may not be residents of the villages affected by coal transportation and the linear projects, but had all plunged in the stir as part of the Save Mollem campaign and the agitation to protect the State from becoming a coal hub.
How the ruling BJP handles these contentious issues in the ensuing Zilla Panchayat polls remains to be seen. Since the time the agitation against the three linear projects and the coal transportation began from October 2, the ruling BJP had come under the line of fire from the activists and agitators for pushing the controversial projects down the throats of the people. Since then, the organizations waging a battle against these contentious projects have to a great extent succeeded in creating awareness amongst the people, across the State. In fact, the assurances and promises handed out by the ruling dispensation headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to cap coal handling at the MPT in phases hardly had any takers on the ground.
In Salcete, the BJP is in the fray in the seats of Davorlim and Guirdolim out of the nine Zilla panchayat seats at stake. Both Guirdolim and Davorlim villages have been the epicenters of the ongoing agitation against the track doubling and coal handling projects.
On the other hand, the Opposition Congress had been quick to lend its support to the agitation, even descending on the ground to make common cause with the organizations spearheading the ongoing movement.
Against this backdrop, questions may be raised in political circles how the Congress will go about to capitalize on the popular sentiments against the ruling dispensation and its allies, including the Independents, especially in the party’s stronghold Salcete.
