Amid distrust, disenchantment all eyes set on S Goa battlefront

Panaji: Abridge over the Zuari divides North and South Goa. But that’s not the only divide in the state as the campaign ended on Sunday for the two seats that will go to polls on Tuesday.
In an extremely polarised atmosphere, where the Church and religious heads have ventured into the political arena, there is distrust of state govt and disenchantment with voting among the people. Amidst the cacophony of claims and counterclaims by the political parties, it is the highly vocal electorate that seems to have suddenly fallen silent.
But what is buzzing across the state is the fight for the South Goa seat. North, as most will want us to believe, is a done and dusted case.
Having won the South Goa seat only twice and by pitching a woman candidate for the first time in its history for parliamentary polls in Goa, BJP reckons that it has played its cards right.
Congress, which has managed to stitch an alliance with AAP and Goa Forward as part of the INDIA bloc, believes it has the wherewithal to retain the seat by fielding a relative newcomer from the Catholic community.
But ask the people about the candidates — Pallavi Dempo of BJP from one of the oldest business families of Goa and Capt Viriato Fernandes, a Navy veteran and activist-turned-politician of Congress — and one finds a palpable discomfort.
If Pallavi faces the “accessibility” question, Viriato is an “unknown person”, who has suddenly been propped up by Congress.
BJP and Congress have approached the people with different strategies. If BJP and its partners, with a brute strength of 33 MLAs, are banking on double engine govt and Modi’s guarantee, the INDIA bloc has confined itself to local issues, hoping to strike a chord with the populace that feels itself short-changed.
But therein lies the rub. Both BJP and Congress find themselves at the crossroads as they fail to meet the expectations.
In the villages and hinterlands, there are few takers for BJP’s development buzzword and its double engine govt, while no one remembers when Congress came knocking on their doors last time. Not even for this election.
“People are disappointed… there is disenchantment. BJP speaks of development, but probably it is confined to just the urban centres. Even some of the schemes have been stopped. What use is double engine govt when the benefits can’t reach the last mile,” asks the sarpanch, a hardcore BJP supporter, of a village in South Goa.
He will vote for BJP, but that’s it. “I am finding it difficult to convince my people to vote for the lotus symbol. They have heard of tall promises from BJP functionaries and the CM, but have realised it is empty rhetoric,” he says.
It is this distrust that is making people remember the late CM Manohar Parrikar even today. “He would always keep his word. If only Parrikar was here….”
But despite the anti-incumbency in the North against the five-time MP and Union minister Shripad Naik and the distrust with state govt in the South, Congress can hardly make a push to fill in the void. A weak organisation, no foot soldiers and even the candidate selection have come into question.
“All said and done, Congress still has votes across the state and with minorities voting for them, it won’t be as easy as one believes it to be for BJP,” says a former Congress functionary, who now is with the saffron party.
With roughly 42% of the around 6 lakh voters in South Goa from the minority community, Congress believes it stands a fair chance. On the other hand, BJP thinks by bringing in various warring factions within the party onto the table and putting up a united front, it will be able to romp home with ease.
“All these factional leaders are making a show of strength before the BJP’s state leadership. Dig deep and you will find the chasms still exist and it may not actually translate into votes. As for the public meetings, the crowd goes for entertainment,” says a former head of a Konkani literary body.
Late-night meetings, closed-door confabulations and behind-the-back dealings have been done. What is left now is for the 11.8 lakh voters to cast their ballots on Tuesday.