Goa is almost in the last leg of the election campaign, and in just a few days, will be voting to elect its Lok Sabha representatives. As in the past, the contest is between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
Unlike five years ago, when there were three by-elections to the State Assembly seats in Goa along with the LS polls, this time the focus is entirely on the two Lok Sabha seats, with nothing else to distract the electorate.
This is promising to be an interesting election. In North Goa, the two main contenders met once before, and when Shripad Naik of the BJP had won his first Lok Sabha election, he had defeated Ramakant Khalap of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
They now meet again, with Khalap on a Congress ticket attempting to break Naik’s winning streak.
The BJP and its candidate are battling incumbency in North Goa, with Naik has been the BJP’s only MP from this constituency, while Khalap is attempting a comeback from a seat that he once held, and was a stronghold of the regional party he once led.
The BJP and its candidate are battling incumbency in North Goa, with Naik has been the BJP’s only MP from this constituency, while Khalap is attempting a comeback from a seat that he once held, and was a stronghold of the regional party he once led.
In South Goa, it is the newbie politicians – Pallavi Dempo of the BJP and Captain Viriato Fernandes of the Congress – who are attempting to make their debut in Parliament.
The campaign in this constituency has drawn more interest, primarily because of the candidates. The BJP’s choice of Dempo surprised the people, while Fernandes has been in the thick of battles on various issues.
Yet, while both are not new faces to the people, whoever wins will be making their debut as an elected member in Parliament. The contrast therefore, between two veterans and two greenhorns could not get starker than this.
As we come close to election date, there is no clear wave that will guide voters to decide which button they should press on the EVM. There are no major issue to swing votes and Goa has rarely voted on issues.
While both are not new faces to the people, whoever wins will be making their debut as an elected member in Parliament. The contrast therefore, between two veterans and two greenhorns could not get starker than this.
The state has consistently voted on emotions and what carries them in the runup to the polls. The BJP is talking of its nation-wide performance, the Congress is concentrating on local issues.
It’s an election, therefore, where a myriad of emotive matters will decide the way people vote, and that vote will depend on how best the candidate captures that emotion and works it into his or her campaign.
If one attempts to gauge the election outcomes by the composition of the State Assembly, then the odds are stacked against the Congress, but that is definitely not how the people are going to vote in this election.
The huge majority of the BJP in the Assembly has been generated by defections.
And, the results of the 2022 Assembly elections were also dictated by the split in votes, which is unlikely to occur this time as the opposition, with the exception of regional party RGP, has joined ranks to back the Congress candidates in both seats.
The state has consistently voted on emotions and what carries them in the runup to the polls. The BJP is talking of its nation-wide performance, the Congress is concentrating on local issues.
This is the first election after eight Congress MLAs switched sides and joined the BJP.
The manner in which the constituencies of these MLAs vote, as also those of the Independents who are supporting the government, is going to be keenly watched.
After all, the MLAs when switching sides did announce that they have done it for the development of the constituency and that they have taken their supporters, if not their electors, into confidence.
Would the constituents use this opportunity as a referendum to make known their views on the defection? Will they all back their MLA’s new party?
Against the backdrop of defection, there is an urgent need for Goa to clean up its politics. It cannot be done in one election, especially not in a Lok Sabha election, but it could well start here and be treated as a statement of the Goan electorate’s intentions.
So, to vote is a must. How you vote, that is an individual choice. But, one thing is certain, that whoever Goa sends to Delhi as its MP should be the voice of the people of Goa, and not the mouthpiece of the party.
After polling date, Goa will have to wait exactly four weeks before the EVMs unlock their secrets and reveal the results. Would the results have an outcome on the local political situation?
If Goa maintains the status quo of one each, then it most likely will not lead to any shift in the balance of power, but if it goes any other way, there could be, at the very least, some rumblings in the State, which of course, would depend on who forms the government in New Delhi.