In less than a week the EVMs will reveal how Goans voted on Valentine’s Day. We shall know if the vote was for the love of Goa or for the affection of those notes which were splashed around abundantly. It will be known whether the voters chose the best candidate or the highest bidder of their vote. The results on March 10th are too close to call. The margins could be just a couple of hundreds in some constituencies. The results in only two or three constituencies is a foregone conclusion but the rest will be in suspense till the last vote is counted. Despite gross misuse of the election machinery and all out breach of the Model Code of Conduct, if the BJP loses we have to commend the voters of Goa. Last week I inquired with a motorcycle pilot as to how the elections went. He told me that in his constituency one candidate doled out Rs 5000, while another Rs 4000 and the third Rs 2000. He went on to say that he had voted for the candidate who distributed the least amount as being poor, that candidate would work hard for the betterment of the constituency. What a naïve belief. If that was the line of thinking in Panaji and Taleigao, there will be new MLAs there this time around.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
