On January 22, opposition leader Digambar Kamat, state Congress president Girish Chodankar and P. Chidambaram, Congress’s election observer for Goa, took 36 party candidates to the Mahalakshmi temple in Panaji. The candidates were made to swear that they would not defect to the BJP or any other party if they got elected. The ritual was repeated at the Bambolim Cross church and the Hamza Shah Dargah.
Having badly burnt its fingers in 2017 and 2019, when Congress legislators joined the BJP in groups, the party does not want to take any chances this time. Whether the candidates took the oath in all sincerity will become clear only after the results are declared on March 10. But this temple run speaks volumes about the Congress’s fear of the BJP, especially its ability to break parties to reach its goal of forming the government.
‘Power at any cost’ seems to be the tagline of the BJP’s election campaign in Goa, which reflects in its selection of candidates, too. The BJP state leadership has realised that the task of retaining power in the ‘Sushegaat’ (relaxed) state will not be easy. And, it is not taking any chances, be it denying tickets to a few sitting MLAs, rejecting claims of aspirants like Utpal Parrikar, son of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, or dumping former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who lobbied hard for a ticket from his home turf Mandrem. Parrikar and Parsekar have since quit the BJP and have decided to contest as independents. But these are small hurdles.
Having ruled Goa since 2012, the BJP is facing a strong anti-incumbency wave this time. And, it has itself to blame, as people have not forgotten how the BJP formed the government in 2017 when it was the second largest party with 13 legislators, a good eight short of majority in the 40-member house. Subsequently, in 2019, it engineered a split in the Congress and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party to add 12 more legislators to its kitty. In doing so, it reduced the MGP to just one legislator and delivered a severe blow to the oldest Hindu party in Goa. No wonder the MGP has refused to ally with the BJP this time and has joined hands with the Trinamool Congress, which has vowed to oust the BJP from power.
Congress candidates for the assembly election in Goa at the the Mahalakshmi temple | Nitin Gawade
“I do not think any party will get majority on its own this time,” says Sunil Naik, former sarpanch of Karmali village. “There is a lot of anger against the BJP in people’s mind. It is no more the party that Manohar Parrikar built and represented. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant does not enjoy that good an image. They say he has purchased a mine in neighbouring Maharashtra. He may still win, but I doubt the BJP will be able to form the government on its own.”
According to Sunil, tourist taxi owners of Goa are angry with the BJP for hiring almost 1,500 taxis from Maharashtra for election-related work. There are about 25,000 tourist taxis in Goa and almost 75-80 per cent of the taxi owners are against the BJP.
Congress candidates for the assembly election in Goa at the the Hamza Shah Dargah | Nitin Gawade
While Sawant dismissed the mine allegation, first raised by the Trinamool Congress, it is not the only allegation that is troubling the BJP. There is one involving former minister Milind Naik, too. In December 2021, Chodankar had accused Milind of sexually exploiting a woman from Bihar, following which Milind was forced to resign from the cabinet. Sawant had assured that a thorough inquiry will be carried out and appropriate action will be taken. However, so far, the Goa police has not registered an FIR against Milind. It said that the survivor had herself dismissed the charge levelled by the Congress. As a result, Milind has been given a BJP ticket to contest from his Mormugao constituency. His Congress opponent Sankalp Amonkar has now claimed that the government and the chief minister put pressure on the Goa police to not register the case so that Milind could contest again.
Another taint on the BJP is the alleged job scam in the public works department. The allegations were levelled against PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar by fellow BJP legislator Atanasio Monserrate and MGP legislator Sudin Dhavalikar. Monserrate claimed that the jobs were being given to the highest bidder, while Dhavalikar alleged that youth had been asked to shell out Rs25 lakh for employment in PWD. Pauskar denied the allegations, but Sawant ordered an inquiry. Pauskar was denied a ticket, and he quit the party. He is now planning to contest as an independent.
Amit Palekar | PTI
North Goa, with its 19 seats, has been a BJP stronghold for the past couple of decades. This time, however, it may not be smooth sailing for the party there, as Michael Lobo, who was minister in the Parrikar and Sawant cabinets, has jumped ship. Lobo had urged the BJP leadership to give his wife, Delilah, a ticket from Siolim or allow her to contest as an independent. The party refused, saying only one member from a family could contest. Lobo is now the Congress candidate from Calangute, and his wife is contesting from Siolim. Lobo asked why the ‘one family, one ticket’ rule was not applicable to the Monserrates and Ranes. Monserrate is BJP candidate from Panjim and his wife Jennifer from Taleigao. Likewise, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane is BJP candidate from Valpoi and his wife Deviya is contesting from Poriem, a seat held by her father-in-law and former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane for more than five decades. Citing the same rule, the BJP also denied a ticket to Savitri Kavlekar, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar. Savitri has since resigned as vice president of the BJP Mahila Morcha and is all set to contest as an independent from Sanguem constituency in south Goa.
Lobo’s entry into the Congress has brightened the grand old party’s prospects in North Goa, especially in Bardez region that has seven constituencies. Lobo has told the Congress leadership that he will win at least three of the seven seats for the party. Another former BJP leader who joined the Congress is Carlos Almeida. Almeida quit the BJP in December 2021 and joined the Congress along with his supporters. He is now the Congress candidate from Vasco.
While it is welcoming leaders from the BJP, the Congress has closed its doors to legislators who had defected to the BJP in 2017 and 2019. Reacting to former chief minister Parsekar’s resignation from the BJP, Chidambaram said that the BJP has now started reaping the poison it sowed in the state. “What they did to us in 2017 and 2019 is coming back to haunt them now,” he said. “Their own people have started quitting the BJP.”
He also explained why the Congress cold-shouldered the proposal of an alliance with the Trinamool Congress. He said that the Trinamool had been poaching leaders from the Congress in Goa. “First, it was Luizinho Faleiro and then when we had announced our first list of candidates they poached Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco,” said Chidambaram. “The suggestion for an alliance came from the Trinamool on December 24 and soon after that they poached our leaders and cadre in Vasco and Mormugao. The Congress leadership was observing these developments and I had no instruction to hold any talks.”
In the absence of a grand alliance to take on the BJP, Goa will see a quadrangular fight between the BJP, the Congress (along with the Goa Forward Party), the Trinamool (along with the MGP) and the AAP in almost all 40 constituencies. The AAP cadre has been working silently and with all seriousness across all constituencies. AAP’s Goa in-charge Atishi and national convener Arvind Kejriwal are personally overseeing candidate selection, reviewing each candidate’s track record and background. Kejriwal has announced Amit Palekar’s name as the chief ministerial candidate. Palekar, a journalist-turned lawyer, became the face of people’s agitation last year when he sat on a hunger strike to oppose construction of a Mumbai BJP leader’s bungalow in Old Goa’s heritage zone. The state government had to buckle under popular pressure and cancel the permission.
A surprise factor in the upcoming election could be the entry of Revolutionary Goans (RG), a new outfit. Founded by Manoj Parab, RG espouses the cause of the sons of the soil. Parab, whose meetings on the ground and on social media are getting good response, has announced that his party will give 100 per cent reservation in government jobs to Goans. He has also assured 80 per cent reservation in private jobs. Parab’s outfit is at present popular in North Goa and among Hindu-majority areas. If he continues to get good traction, his candidates could end up eating into BJP votes—a matter of concern for the saffron party.