It is 6pm and Delilah Lobo—the Congress candidate from Siolim constituency in north Goa—is in Oxel village, campaigning from door to door. Politics is not new to Delilah; her husband, Michael Lobo, was a minister in the Pramod Sawant-led BJP government for almost five years. He quit in December 2021, to join the Congress. Lobo was with the BJP for more than a decade and was a trusted lieutenant of party stalwart Manohar Parrikar. Back then, Delilah used to help Lobo manage his constituency, Calangute. So, after a detailed discussion with her husband, she took the plunge into full-time politics. Delilah had decided to run as an independent, hoping that the BJP would support her candidature. But, when that did not happen, the Lobos quit the BJP and joined the Congress, which offered them tickets from Calangute and Siolim.
As dusk sets in, Delilah stood at the door of a house in Oxel. Photographers accompanying her told her the house was dark and they would not be able to shoot. She told them not to shoot pictures as she would be visiting a bedridden voter. Inside the house, Delilah chatted with the family for five minutes.
Amit Palekar – Constituency Santa Cruz- Party AAP- X-Factor Young and fresh face; CM candidate of the AAP | Amey Mansabdar
Her next stop was a nearby temple. From there she went to a locality behind the temple where a few Hindu families reside. “I have come here for the overall development of this constituency. A village in this constituency, Vella-Kanka, is next to my village, Parra. This constituency lacks basic amenities like good roads and a regular water supply. I want to take up these issues and fix them,” Delilah told THE WEEK, “In Calangute, whenever legislators of neighbouring constituencies failed to take up issues, people met Michael. So we know that good leadership that will solve people’s problems is lacking. That is why I am contesting.”
The decision to join the Congress, she said, was well thought out. “In the BJP, we were guided by the ideals and values of our beloved leader [Parrikar],” she said. “You see what has happened to the BJP after his demise. Even his son, Utpal, has quit the party. The values and principles of Parrikar ji are lost today, and hence there was no point in continuing in the BJP.”
Valanka Alemao – Constituency Navelim- Party Trinamool Congress- X-Factor Solid backing of her father, Churchill Alemao.
Utpal, in fact, is yet another debutant. He wanted to contest in 2019, after his father’s demise, but was denied a ticket citing inexperience. He continued to work with the BJP and sought a ticket from Panjim this time. But the party favoured sitting legislator Atanasio Monserrate, alias Babush. Babush joined the BJP in 2019; until then he was a staunch opponent of the party.
“My fight is against money power and muscle power,” said Utpal. An engineer by education, Utpal is a businessman. He sought the blessings of Goddess Mahalakshmi at a temple in Panjim before filing his nomination. “My father used to come here every time he took a major decision. As I begin a new journey, I have come to the temple to seek blessings. I am confident that people will support me just as they supported my father,” said Utpal.
Delilah Lobo – Constituency Siolim- Party Congress- X-Factor Her husband, Michael Lobo, and his great network across the Bardez region | Amey Mansabdar
A large crowd of supporters gathered at the temple to cheer Utpal. Said Datta Palekar, an old BJP worker who was sidelined, “Enough is enough, we want Utpal. No more Babush.” Soon the crowd repeated what Palekar said. A visibly moved Utpal thanked his supporters. When I asked Utpal whether he will support a non-BJP government if elected, Utpal chose to remain silent—a clear indication that his heart is still with the BJP.
Utpal’s fight is with Monserrate and Elvis Gomes of the Congress. Both the Congress and the BJP have a solid support base in Panjim. Even when Parrikar was elected from here, the margin was never above 1,500 votes; except in 2012, when he won by a margin of over 6,000 votes. What remains to be seen is whether sympathy and affection for his father will help Utpal sail through.
Just outside Panjim is Santa Cruz, from where the AAP’s chief minister candidate, Amit Palekar, is contesting. A first-timer, Palekar is a lawyer who joined the AAP by breaking the family’s tradition of favouring the BJP. “I decided to join politics because I felt there is a limit to tolerating incompetence and corruption in the government. As an educated person I felt it was my responsibility to put a full stop to this and ensure a better future for Goa. I want to cleanse the system and do a lot of work for my constituency, which has been neglected so far,” Palekar told THE WEEK.
Palekar had filed an intervention petition on the issue of Covid mismanagement in Goa. “My intervention exposed the oxygen shortage in Goa. We did a lot of work during the pandemic; I am part of the Rotary Club and we put up 185 beds for people affected with Covid.”
He also opposed the construction of a bungalow by BJP leader Shaina N.C. in the Old Goa heritage zone. Palekar sat on a hunger strike for five days and forced the government to order to stop the construction.
Dr Divya Rane – Constituency Poriem- Party BJP- X-Factor Ranes have a strong grip over Poriem and Valpoi constituencies.
Palekar was impressed with the AAP’s work in Delhi, especially in the education sector. “I was in Delhi and visited a government school attended by my friend’s daughter. I compared her government school with government schools in Goa and realised how our schools have not changed at all. That was the trigger,” he said.
Santa Cruz, Palekar said, has been deprived of necessities for ages. It is a stone’s throw away from Panjim, yet water and electricity supply remain an issue. “We don’t have a health centre, community centre, bus stop, and a market. I will address all these issues during my campaign and after I get elected,” he said.
Valanka Alemao, Trinamool Congress candidate from Navelim constituency, is also a first-timer, but from a strong political family. Her father, Churchill Alemao, a TMC candidate from Benaulim, is a former chief minister.
Said Valanka, “I have been part of my father’s political journey from quite a young age. I used to campaign for him. My father always taught me to reach out to people who cannot return anything to you for your help. My politics will be about helping the needy and the underprivileged.”
Navelim, she said, was her father’s constituency from 2007 to 2017. “There are many things to do here. There is the issue of power fluctuations that affect people. There is also the issue of health care centres. There are so many open spaces, but they are not done up as grounds or parks,” she said.
When I asked Valanka if her father would defect from the TMC if elected, she said, “Why do you even think of such a thing as defection? There is still a long way to go,” she said.
Dr Divya Rane, the wife of health minister Vishwajit Rane, is another first-timer contesting on a BJP ticket from the Poriem constituency. Her father-in-law and six-time Goa chief minister, Pratapsingh Rane, represented Poriem for over five decades. The Congress stalwart is not contesting this time as his son [Vishwajit] warned him of a messy electoral fight if he chose to contest. An ambitious politician, Vishwajit announced his wife’s candidature from Poriem when the Congress declared his father as its candidate. Eventually, senior Rane backed out and the Congress had to go candidate hunting at the last minute.
Divya is an MBBS graduate and has been active in social work, taking up women’s issues and building networks of women in Poriem and Valpoi (Vishwajit’s constituency).
The Ranes chose not to meet THE WEEK despite repeated requests. Poriem and Valpoi are part of the Sattari tehsil, where the Ranes command a lot of influence. Their ancestors were famous for rebelling against the Portuguese. Vishwajit is micromanaging his wife’s campaign. Instead of the door-to-door campaigns, they prefer a village-to-village campaign where small meetings of village elders are addressed by Vishwajit and Divya.
Only the voters of Goa can tell us how many of these first-time candidates will get elected. Santosh G., who is from the Poriem constituency, told me that he has not been happy with the performance of the BJP government in the state. “I am a BJP voter by heart, so I will not vote for the Congress or any other party. This time I will vote for NOTA [None of the Above].” Another voter from the Santa Cruz constituency made fun of Palekar for not having enough Goans with him when he was out campaigning. “Most of the guys following him are either from Delhi or from out of Goa. He should have more Goan supporters around him when he is campaigning,” he said. Reactions of people are mixed, but most of them concur that no party will get a majority on its own this time.
The guessing will end on March 10, counting day.