VASCO
If Goa’s next Assembly election is eventually written as a contest of alliances and defections, Mormugao Taluka could provide one of its most fascinating chapters.
On paper, the political arithmetic looks remarkably simple. The BJP has three MLAs in four constituencies of Mormugao Taluka. The fourth, Cortalim, is represented by Independent MLA Anton Vas, who has supported the BJP-led government.
But beneath that apparently comfortable picture lies a far more complicated political map.
Mormugao, Vasco, Dabolim and Cortalim are not merely four constituencies waiting for the next election. They are four different political stories, each carrying its own rivalries, alliances, ticket battles and unresolved equations.
The next election may not be decided simply by BJP versus Congress. It could be decided by how many votes remain inside major parties when tickets are finally distributed. And that is where Mormugao Taluka’s jigsaw becomes interesting.
MORMUGAO
Few contests in Mormugao have been as consistently personal and closely watched as the Sankalp Amonkar-Milind Naik battle.
In 2022, Amonkar, then with Congress, defeated BJP’s Milind Naik, but the political irony came soon afterwards when Amonkar became part of BJP following the 2022 Congress legislative party split. He is now the sitting BJP MLA from the constituency.
The result has produced an unusual situation.
Amonkar and Naik are now technically in the same party, but political camps around them have not necessarily disappeared.
Naik’s supporters continue to maintain that they are the original BJP network in the constituency, while Amonkar’s camp remains confident that the sitting MLA has the advantage when the BJP ticket comes up.
That leaves the first major question of Mormugao: can two political camps built around a direct electoral rivalry comfortably operate under one BJP banner when only one person can receive the ticket?
The BJP’s decision will, therefore, have consequences beyond the candidate announcement itself. If Amonkar gets the ticket, the question will be whether Naik’s organisational network turns out wholeheartedly for him. If Naik gets another opportunity, the question will be how Amonkar’s camp responds.
And waiting outside the BJP tent is an equally crowded Congress house.
Long-time Congressman Nitin Chopdekar, former MMC chairperson and currently heading the party’s OBC wing, remains an aspirant. Nazir Khan, recently brought into the Congress leadership as minority convenor, is also keen on the ticket. His supporters point to the party’s internal expectation of representation for a minority candidate.
Then there is Jayesh Shetgaonkar, who shifted from TMC to Congress, while social worker Sanjay Satardekar is another name being discussed, with his supporters hoping for consideration from the BJP side.
Congress has also tied up with RGP, while Goa Forward Party has brought former MMC councillor Nilesh Navelkar into its Mormugao fold.
And then comes the most intriguing possibility: Milind Naik himself.
There is political talk of Congress considering Naik, while another possibility being discussed is Naik finding space in Goa Forward, potentially creating an alliance arrangement with Congress. None of these possibilities has been settled, but their mere presence shows how fluid the constituency remains.
The eventual contest could, therefore, be anything from a direct BJP-Congress battle to a multi-cornered fight involving BJP, Congress-RGP, Goa Forward-AAP and independents.
In Mormugao, the ticket may be the first battle. Keeping defeated ticket aspirants within the fold could prove to be the second.
VASCO
Vasco presents another political puzzle.
Carlos Almeida won the constituency twice before Krishna Salkar was handed the BJP ticket while Almeida was the sitting MLA. Upset on being denied the ticket, Almeida joined the Congress, contesting the 2022 Assembly election against Salkar, who was the BJP candidate. Salkar defeated Almeida but Almeida later returned to BJP, apparently removing one of the most obvious threats to Salkar from within the party.
But political rivalries rarely disappear merely because their protagonists return to the same party.
Almeida has not openly declared his plans, while his supporters continue to maintain that he could contest the coming election. Whether he eventually throws his weight behind Salkar or chooses another course could become significant.
Salkar has meanwhile worked to consolidate his position, including dealing with another potential challenger from within the BJP. Former MMC chairperson Deepak Naik had been working towards a BJP ticket and had mobilised supporters.
Naik’s growing efforts to secure the BJP ticket had also reportedly unsettled sections of the Salkar camp. While Naik stepped up his groundwork and began mobilising supporters, there were allegations within party circles that his political activities were being obstructed.
The developments eventually culminated in the BJP asking Naik to shift his focus to neighbouring Cortalim, a move seen as a successful effort by Salkar’s camp to clear a potential challenger from the Vasco ticket race.
Naik has since begun preparing in Cortalim, but the bigger question is whether his supporters will make the political journey with him or remain in Vasco — where some are now being seen alongside Congress.
The movement of a leader does not necessarily mean the movement of his entire support base.
Naik’s supporters have now been seen alongside Congress leader Nandadeep Raut, creating another layer of uncertainty for Salkar. Raut, a former MMC chairperson, has been working with Congress since 2022 and is already an established name in the opposition camp.
Then comes Jose Philip D’Souza. The two-time former minister, now with NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), has made it clear he wants to contest from Vasco after fighting from Dabolim in 2022. D’Souza also worked extensively with Congress during the 2024 Lok Sabha election in support of Viriato Fernandes, despite their political histories placing them on opposite sides of the electoral field.
Now D’Souza has been holding discussions with GPCC president Girish Chodankar over a possible NCP-Congress arrangement.
If an alliance materialises and NCP gets Vasco, what happens to Raut? If D’Souza joins Congress instead, who gets the ticket? And if neither arrangement happens, does NCP field candidates independently and divide the anti-BJP vote?
These are not minor questions in a constituency where the BJP won with a sizeable margin in 2022.
Vasco, therefore, has an interesting contradiction: Salkar may have neutralised threats from Carlos Almeida and Deepak Naik, but the space around the party remains crowded with unresolved political ambitions.
DABOLIM
For years, Dabolim has largely been defined by the Mauvin Godinho-Viriato Fernandes contest.
Godinho defeated Fernandes in the 2022 assembly election, and their rivalry continued into the 2024 Lok Sabha election, when Fernandes eventually won the South Goa parliamentary seat.
With Fernandes now in Parliament, Godinho’s supporters might have expected Dabolim to become comparatively straightforward.
Instead, another contest appears to be taking shape — inside Godinho’s own political camp.
Councillor Vinod Kinlekar, once considered a hard-core Godinho supporter, has moved away from the camp and has openly spoken of contesting against him, including on a Shiv Sena ticket.
More significantly, Chicalim Sarpanch Kamlaprasad Yadav, once considered close to Godinho, has also broken away. Yadav is now building his own political camp, and several of Godinho’s rivals have moved towards him.
Yadav’s supporters believe he can command a substantial vote on his own. If he secures a recognised party ticket, the contest could become considerably wider.
There is also a possibility that Congress could bring Fernandes back into the Assembly contest, taking advantage of the BJP vs BJP situation. But even that route has complications. Some of Fernandes’ former local supporters are understood to have moved towards Yadav after Fernandes’ elevation to Parliament. Former Chicalim sarpanch Seby Fernandes, once associated with Viriato’s camp, has also been seen with Yadav.
Add former AAP candidate Premanand Nanoskar, who is again preparing for elections, and Dabolim suddenly looks much less like the old Mauvin-Viriato contest.
For Godinho, the central political question may not be whether he can defeat an opposition candidate. It may be whether his former supporters remain inside his camp when the campaign begins.
CORTALIM
If one constituency has turned the ticket question into a political traffic jam, it is Cortalim.
Anton Vas won the 2022 election as an independent, but several other candidates also secured sizeable numbers in a nine-cornered contest.
That explains why Cortalim cannot be read like a conventional BJP-Congress contest.
Vas later supported the BJP government while maintaining his independent identity. His political network also demonstrated its strength when his wife, Merciana, won the Cortalim ZP by-election in 2022. More recently, Merciana retained the ZP seat in the 2025 election.
But the BJP’s Cortalim story is currently crowded.
Deepak Naik has been asked to prepare for the constituency and has started working with BJP workers. Yet there is discontent among sections of the local BJP organisation, with claims that the constituency should have a local candidate.
Names such as Tulshidas Naik, former BJP South Goa president and Sancoale deputy sarpanch, former Sancoale sarpanch Girish Pillai and former MP Narendra Sawaikar have figured in political discussions. Former BJP member Achut Naik is another name being spoken about as a possible independent.
Pillai’s own history makes the situation particularly interesting. He secured 4,251 votes as an Independent in the 2022 Assembly election — almost as many as Vas’ winning margin over Congress was greater than the conventional party-versus-party arithmetic might suggest.
The BJP, therefore, has to manage not merely a candidate selection but the reactions of those who do not get the ticket.
Congress faces an equally crowded field.
Cortalim Block President Peter D’Souza has long been an aspirant and comes from a political family, with his father having served as MLA and Deputy Speaker.
Mariano Rodrigues has returned to Congress after his stint with TMC and carries support in Zuarinagar. Mahesh Nadar has been active in the constituency for years. Olencio Simoes remains a known face after contesting the 2022 election. Darrick Vales has entered the race and has been visible at Congress activities, while Sancoale Panch Maurelio Carvalho also expressed his desire to contest.
In other words, Congress has candidates. What it does not have is the luxury of giving all of them a ticket.
That is precisely where the newest political wildcard enters the picture: Goa Congress Party.
The party, which has its registered office in Velsao, is being discussed as a possible platform for disgruntled Congress aspirants who fail to secure the official Congress ticket.
If that remains merely political chatter, it changes little.
If it translates into candidates on the ground, particularly candidates with an existing Congress support base, the arithmetic could become far more complicated.
The bigger question for Congress across Mormugao Taluka is therefore not simply how many votes it can attract. It is how many potential votes could leave through the back door if disappointed aspirants decide that losing a party ticket does not mean losing an election.
