CANACONA
It may have been the constituency which gave losing BJP candidate Pallavi Dempo the highest number of votes (over 16,000), but Canacona constituency did not deliver up to BJP’s expectations at the Lok Sabha elections.
Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar’s promise of a lead of over 10,000-15,000 votes to the BJP candidate was well short of the target, with Dempo securing a lead of about 7,132 votes, eventually losing the South Goa seat to Congress Capt Viriato Fernandes.
Capt Viriato had polled 9,134 votes, well short of Dempo’s 16,359 votes in Canacona constituency, but what mattered is that he managed to eat into BJP’s projected lead by a margin of nearly 3,000 votes.
Incidentally, Tawadkar was on record to state that Canacona constituency would give a guaranteed lead of over 10,000 votes to BJP’s candidate Pallavi Dempo.
Addressing a press meet a day before the campaign period ended, Tawadkar had stated that the lead was likely to extend by 14,000-15,000 votes, after joining hands with two leaders, former Dy Speaker Isidore Fernandes and ex-Canacona MLA Vijay Poi Khot, who had contested the last assembly elections as independent candidates.
Tawadkar had also reportedly assured that the BJP would get 90% votes of Hindu electorate and at another meeting, had claimed that BJP would secure 70% votes of ST people in Canacona.
After elections, Canacona BJP Mandal President Vishal Dessai had, however, claimed that the BJP would get a lead of about 8,000 votes in Canacona.
I.N.D.I. alliance spokesman Vikas Bhagat had claimed that the INDIA bloc had performed to the hilt despite not having any of the 12 CMC councillors and most of the Sarpanchas and Panchas in Canacona constituency with the alliance.
The votes in Canacona constituency threw up interesting figures.
The BJP has conceded a slender lead of just 131 votes to Congress candidate in 4 of the 6 booths of Agonda Panchayat, but took substantial leads in Shristhal (717), Poinguinim (1,401), Loliem-Polem(792), Gaondongrim (758) and Khotigao (744) village panchayat areas and a sizeable lead of 2,944 votes in Canacona Municipality area.
However, none of these leads were good enough to give an overall lead of over 10,000-15,000 votes, as anticipated by Tawadkar.
Besides, Tawadkar’s expectations to garner 90% of Hindu votes seem to have met the same fate, as not only Congress candidate but even the RGP polled significant votes in those areas dominated by the Hindu community.
Tawadkar had also challenged INDIA bloc partner and GFP leader Prashant Naik of taking a lead in his own ward of Maxem and showing him his place.
The BJP, however, polled 132 votes while the Congress candidate secured 280 votes, thereby conceding a lead of 146 votes.
The voting pattern in ST belt “ Gaondongrim, Cotigao, part of Poinguinim and part of Shristhal “ also disrupted Tawadkar’s expectations of securing over 70% of polled votes for the BJP.
Voting shows that the Congress bagged between 35-45% of the votes polled in ST-dominated areas.
