The BJP’s stunning victory in the recently-concluded 2022 Assembly polls in Goa would not have been possible had it not been for the acumen and political sagacity of Chief Minster Pramod Sawant, who braved the political storm and brunt of several opposition parties by contesting all the 40 Assembly seats without entering into any pre-poll alliance. Sawant also overcame the bitterness and bickerings within his party over the selection of candidates based on winnability and personal charisma. It is also surprising that the BJP managed to reach the halfway mark of 20 Assembly seats despite the strong anti-incumbency factor against it and the oft-repeated allegations of poor governance, corruption, joblessness, mining closure, and high-handed manner of functioning. The Congress on its part, riding high on a wave of superiority and overconfidence, has unfortunately missed the woods for the trees by failing to foresee the dangers and to tackle the predicted splitting of anti-BJP votes by the TMC, AAP and others. As for the people of Goa, they have done a splendid job by any reckoning, voting out 9 of the 12 former MLAs who had betrayed their mandate by defecting to the BJP halfway during their term in office.
