In a battle of the sons, it’s advantage Vishwajit Rane

VALPOI: One has never lost an election, the other has never contested one. Both come from a political lineage boasting of fathers having served as CMs, but when it comes to testing the ballots, Vishwajit Rane holds the upper hand against Roy Naik. In the pocket borough of the Rane family, it isn’t the colour of the party that matters, but the person contesting.
Nestled amidst the verdant Western Ghats, the battle for Valpoi isn’t fought on party lines. Vishwajit, who has tested the waters as an Independent before contesting on Congress ticket, will, for the first time, stand on a BJP ticket; a party which, until a few months ago, was his favourite punching bag.
“I’ve no problems. People from all sections of society, particularly minorities, are with me. I should be able to better my March 2017 victory margin,” Vishwajit tells a TOI team, taking a break from his door-to-door campaign in Sayed Wada.
Rane’s confidence comes from the fact that in the 28,000-odd electorate constituency, he had won the seat by a margin of over 5,600 votes in the February elections.
Since 2012, the assembly segment is made up of areas from two talukas: Nagargao, Sanvordem, Cotorem and Guleli villages and Valpoi municipal area in Sattari taluka, comprising 17,000–plus voters, and Usgao which falls in Ponda taluka, with an electorate of 11,000.
“They know why I have joined the BJP. They know I deliver,” Vishwajit says, surrounded by a group of around 30 people. He keeps it simple: infrastructure and employment are the thrust areas. “They know I will provide employment to them as a minister,” says Vishwajit, who is popularly known as ‘Baba’.
He immediately gets the confirmation. “We are strongly rallying behind Vishwajit Rane. He is going to provide employment to the youth and create infrastructure. That’s all we need. We have suffered when he was in the opposition,” says Parvin Shaikh, chairperson of the Valpoi Municipal Council, which Vishwajit controls after having routed the BJP-supported panel in the 2015 municipal elections.
Adds another councillor, “Party symbol doesn’t matter. We need a person who can work for the people… he has done it in the past, and we know he will better it.”
Vishwajit says for him there isn’t a differentiation between a minority vote and a majority vote. “Ours is a secular government. They both have the same issues. Before joining the BJP, I consulted them (minorities). No one else would have got the support from the people I have now, as it was not easy to switch over from the Congress to the BJP,” he admits.
With 4,000-odd votes, the minority community is expected to play a key role if its members decide to vote en masse for a candidate.
But the Congress has not given up hope. “It has never been a BJP seat,” says Valpoi block president Ashish Kanekar, who was with Vishwajit for 12 years. “They (BJP) may want everyone to believe that Vishwajit will win by a huge margin, but it is going to be a tough battle. The Congress has a strong base in the constituency,” he says, standing outside the party’s campaign office.
One thing, however, Kanekar privately admits: Vishwajit has personal votes and the capacity to change the minds of people in the last two-three days. “But you cannot take voters for granted all the time,” he says.
Congress workers are banking on the disenchantment among the BJP cadre to vote against Vishwajit. “In the recently held panchayat elections, Vishwajit ensured that the BJP grassroots-level workers were defeated. It is to be seen who they will vote for,” says a block committee member of the Congress.
And “who will they vote for” is the question many voters refused to divulge. “He (Vishwajit) has always been antagonistic to the BJP in the constituency. Why will they forgive him now just because he is contesting on a BJP ticket?” asks a poll observer.
But Vishwajit is unfazed. He reckons Muslims support him in a big way, but walk around Sayed Wada and some say in hushed whispers: “Only those who have personally benefited from him will work for him this time.”
“It’s going to be a tough contest and I am confident of victory,” says Roy Naik, his father’s face prominently displayed outside the campaign office. “My father (Ravi Naik) has toured the constituency, especially the Sattari part, and there has been good response to his interactions with the people,” Roy says, unsure whether it will translate into votes. “I began work in the constituency in May.”
Vishwajit, on the other hand, reels out statistics: 80% of Usgao votes will be in his favour. “After all, Ravi Naik lost the 2012 polls because Usgao voted against him.”
But Roy doesn’t believe in numbers. “People say he (Vishwajit) has not done any work in Usgao. This has benefited us.” Vishwajit is ready with a counter: “Let Ravi Naik show what work he has done there. I have a development plan for Usgao, which was part of Ponda constituency until the 2012 polls.”
What Congress seems to be lacking is a strong campaign in Valpoi. “If our MLAs had to campaign here…,” says a booth level worker. Not that BJP ministers or MLAs have been campaigning for Vishwajit. But then, Valpoi is his backyard.
“I don’t want to say much. The voters will decide our fate. There are many silent voters and we feel they hold the key,” says Roy, who is still unsure of the numbers.
For the record, there is a third candidate: Rohidas Gaonkar, an Independent.