VASCO
Having fought in the Kargil war, Captain Viriato Fernandes has embarked on a battle of a different kind, this time with ballots and not bullets, in South Goa.
The retired Indian Navy Officer, who also describes himself as a mechanical engineer with a specialisation in aeronautics engineering and a double MBA, may have many academic and professional weapons in his arsenal, but he now seeks to attain the prized title of 'South Goa MP' in a political battle which will be as uphill for him as the military one in 1999.
Despite being a leader based in Mormugao, the Congress candidate will face hostile battles in virtually all four constituencies in the taluka, where three MLAs are from the BJP, leaving him an opening in one constituency where an independent MLA is backing the present BJP government.
DABOLIM: 2 archrivals spar for supremacy
While Capt Viriato Fernandes and Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho have been political rivals and have battled each other during the assembly elections in 2022, another bout of sparring for supremacy is evident between the two for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections for the vote share.
While Dabolim is the home turf of Capt Viriato, Mauvin has won elections from Dabolim constituency three consecutive times, once on a Congress ticket and twice on the BJP ticket.
While Capt Viriato enjoys a lot of support from activists, some panch members of Chicalim Panchayat and considerable support from Bogmalo and parts of New Vaddem, Godinho holds control in Chicalim Panchayat and equal support in Bogmalo and New Vaddem, which has further strengthened after some councillors joined the BJP recently in the presence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
CORTALIM: Congress hopes to penetrate
While the Cortalim constituency is led by an independent MLA Anton Vas, who is supporting the BJP, Captain Viriato will hope for a silent wave to penetrate the constituency.
While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made his presence felt personally in the areas of Velsao, Congress could not win the assembly elections as many prominent leaders had contested on different parties, leading to a huge vote split.
However, the Cortalim constituency continues to remain the only constituency in Mormugao Taluka which has a Congress-backed panchayat in Velsao and many residents may vote for the Congress considering the doubling of railway tracks, a major issue of the area.
While MLA Anton Vas will use the development card to woo voters for the BJP, the opposition led by archrival Olencio Simoes may highlight the coal pollution and double-tracking issues.
While many consider farmers to be the stronghold of MLA Anton Vas, a very strong traditional fishing community, which has a sizeable presence in the Goenchya Ramponkarancho Ekvott, cannot be ignored, especially after former minister late Matanhy Saldanha had attributed his victory to the association.
With MLA Anton Vas having to convince his voters to support the BJP, the role of other leaders including the former Sancoale Sarpanch Girish Pillai and former ZP Mariano Rodrigues will have to be assessed since they have an extensive influence in the Zuarinagar area, which is also a major part of Cortalim constituency.
While the BJP has already embarked on a damage control exercise and convinced longest-serving Sancoale Sarpanch Ramakant Borkar to join the party, it is yet to be seen if they can get all other leaders on one platform, especially after BJPs Narayan Naik, TMCs Mariano Rodrigues and independent candidate Girish Pillai had contested against each other leading to MLA Anton Vas’ victory in the last assembly elections.
The BJP will have to work hard to bring all leaders on one platform if they expect a lead for Capt Viriato in Cortalim constituency.
VASCO: Jose Philip vs BJP rivals now united
Once considered a bastion of the Congress, the Vasco constituency has been represented by a BJP MLA for the last 15 years. The Congress has a very strong vote share in the port town, but the BJP engineered a masterstroke to get two-term MLA Carlos Almeida, who contested on the Congress ticket, to rejoin the BJP just ahead of the LS polls.
While Vasco MLA Krishna (Daji) Salkar and Carlos Almeida were considered bitter rivals, both have buried the hatchet after Almeida, who got as many as 9,500 votes on the Congress ticket in the last assembly polls, rejoined the BJP.
This has changed the entire political scenario in Vasco. With a sizeable number of Almeida’s supporters expected to support the BJP, the Congress will now have to bank on their partner and former minister Jose Philip D'Souza, who heads the NCP (Sharad Pawar) party, to canvass for Capt. Viriato.
While the BJP now enjoys the support of Almeida and Salkar, Jose Philip enjoys a lot of support from the Kharewaddo belt, and other parts of Vasco and he will be at the helm of affairs to steer Captain Viriato’s ship in the Vasco constituency.
MORMUGAO: Private tensions, public unity in BJP
Mormugao Constituency is represented by MLA Sankalp Amonkar, once a leader in the Congress, who joined the BJP after the 2022 assembly elections.
While the constituency was represented by former minister Milind Naik for the last 15 years, things changed dramatically after Amonkar joined the BJP. This created a huge rift among the BJP karyakartas and even in the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC), as 7 of 9 councillors in Mormugao constituency are affiliated with Milind Naik.
Despite internal tensions between new party workers aligned with Sankalp Amonkar and traditional workers associated with Milind Naik, Amonkar has been vocal in claiming he will ensure that BJP South Goa candidate Pallavi Dempo gets 80 per cent of the entire vote share, which includes around 40 per cent from the minority sections.
While Milind Naik and Sankalp Amonkar cannot see eye to eye, the BJP hopes that Mormugao constituency will deliver the best of both worlds to the BJP South Goa candidate.
In a bid to play safe and avoid conflicts between Milind Naik and Sankalp Amonkar, the BJP has assigned Milind Naik to take charge of Cortalim constituency and help the BJP in the Mormugao constituency.
As for the Congress, the party enjoys very strong support in parts of Baina, Sada and Jetty and will now have to use party loyalists and veteran leaders to garner votes for the grand old party. The Congress still has leaders and activists who continue to support the party and they include former MMC Chairperson Nitin Chopdekar, former GPCC minority chairman Nazir Khan, and social activist Jayesh Shetgaonkar. They will have to work hard to woo Congress supporters and get the Congress out of the uncomfortable situation it faces in the Mormugao constituency.
