The Congress was pretty close to the half-way mark in 2017 and is desperately hoping the Goans give the party a clear mandate.
As the 2022 assembly poll contest draws near, there seems to be a rush among the political parties to lay their claims on Goa’s crown and win the hearts of the Goans.
Goa has been a known popular tourist destination, nationally and internationally, for decades but it is surprising what has made the coastal state so attractive for the political parties.
The state has a smaller Assembly of 40 seats and sends just two members to the Lok Sabha in comparison to neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka but enjoys a high political recall.
Goa Legislative Assembly.
Besides the presence of two national parties, the Congress and the BJP, two Maharashtra-based outfits the NCP and the Shiv Sena along with a host of smaller regional parties including the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Goa Forward Party, are jostling for political space in the coastal state.
However, the entry of West Bengal-based Trinamool Congress and Delhi-based Aam Aadmi Party, has made the 2022 contest interesting.
AAP could not win a single seat in 2017 but got 6.27 percent votes. The party has been trying hard to gain ground after it won a local body poll the same year while the TMC is a late entrant as it decided to contest Goa only in September.
TMC’s historical win against the BJP’s juggernaut in the West Bengal elections, held in April, seemed to have fired the dreams of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The TMC supremo believes a win in Goa can be an endorsement of her national aspirations and will further support her claims of being the only potent force among the opposition parties that can defeat the BJP in the 2024 national elections.
Mamata Banerjee interacts with fishermen community in Goa during her recent visit.
The AAP, which stopped the BJP in the tracks in the 2015 and 2020 Delhi assembly polls, too believes it can cash in on the two-term anti-incumbency of the BJP government in Goa.
Both the TMC and the AAP sense an opportunity to corner the space that has been occupied by the Congress for the past years.
2017 polls
In the 2017 polls, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party winning 17/40 seats but lost the power game to the BJP, which had won 13 seats but quickly enlisted support of the smaller parties and formed a government.
The Congress accused the BJP of “stealing” the mandate but later suffered a jolt when 10 of its lawmakers joined the saffron party.
Gradually the party was reduced to just four MLAs but did not give up. It has been revamping the state unit, bringing in a lot of new faces, for the next year’s battle.
Congress strategists believe they stand a better chance of winning the elections over AAP and TMC, both of whom lack credible local leaders. While AAP has managed to showcase some faces, TMC was forced to start by inducting former Congress chief minister Luizinho Faleiro.
Goa Assembly Elections results 2017. (Graphics: Firstpost)
Blame game
The Congress has blamed both the TMC and the AAP of deliberately joining the Goa contest to divide the anti-BJP votes, which will impact the larger opposition unity plan as well as indirectly help the ruling party in the state.
The Congress has even alleged that the TMC lacked any organization in the state and was getting ground support from poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s outfit, the Indian Political Action Committee, which had played a key role in the West Bengal elections earlier this year.
Both TMC and AAP have denied the charge while Mamata Banerjee even alleged that the Congress was not serious about defeating PM Modi and that the country was suffering as the grand old party was not taking decisions.
Interestingly, both the Congress and the BJP have played down the presence of the TMC and AAP and claim that they are the main contestants for the 2022 polls.
Alliances
The Congress had an alliance with Vijay Sardesai’s Goa Forward Party (3 MLAs) in 2017 but the regional party later sided with the BJP. The GFP parted ways with the BJP some time ago and was negotiating with the Congress.
Of late, GFP was in talks with the TMC, which has managed to induct workers from the MGP and Shiv Sena. The BJP has been trying to get MGP (3 MLAs) on board but no indications of an alliance have emerged yet.
Former union minister and former chief minister Manohar Parrikar used to be a popular face of the saffron party but he is no more.
The Congress claims it is in touch with several regional parties but there is no finality on the alliances as the grand old party seeks a pivotal role.
VIP rush
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union home minister Amit Shah, Union minister Nitin Gadkari have all visited the state recently to mobilize support for their respective parties.
Rahul Gandhi with members of the fishing community in Goa Saturday. (ANI)
Former Goa Governor Satyapal Malik, who was in office from October 2019 to August 2020, had alleged widespread corruption in the BJP government headed by Pramod Sawant.
Revival of mining, which has been banned for over a decade, is also a poll issue and led to the formation of groups like the Goa State Navnirman Aghadi, which had vowed to take on the BJP.
Reduced fishing is another issue that affects the livelihoods of the people.
Rahul Gandhi, who launched the Congress poll campaign recently, specifically said that he would not let Goa become a coal hub and protect its environment while pursuing development. He also interacted with fisherfolks to hear their woes.
Kejriwal is banking on the Delhi model and has similarly promised free pilgrimage tours for the locals belonging to different faiths while TMC explained it stood for temple, mosque and church, to present an inclusive image.
Congress veteran and observer for the coming elections, P Chidambaram has been working with the revamped state unit to give a tough fight to the BJP. He claims that only the grand old party understands the state’s cultural ethos.
The Congress was pretty close to the half-way mark in 2017 and is desperately hoping the Goans give the party a clear mandate and do not throw up a hung house again.
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