Goa Herald: Cong poised for near majority as mood swings in State
Wednesday, February 01, 2017
In what
initially appeared to be difficult to comprehend, there is a clear change in
the political weather with the Congress getting a very strong wind which could
push it to close to a majority.
Herald
travelled across constituencies in both regions of the State. Between 2012 and
2017, there is a palpable change. While in 2012 there was wave which got the
got the BJP to power, 2017 is about local winds in each constituency moving
away from them. And in a growing number, the shift is towards the Congress.
Each
local area and its local people are looking at first at very important local
factors which have affected their lives and are taking their decisions to vote
differently. For instance, in the BJP stronghold of Sankhalim, Herald saw
hordes of mining affected, from truck owners to truck drivers, those who have
lost their livelihoods completely moving with the Congress candidate, saying,
“Everything depended on mining restarting to the extent that our tucks would
get enough business. From truck owner to truck driver, we are on the road.”
The other
common refrain has been the inability to procure and keep jobs in this regime.
This cannot be underlined strongly enough. This continues to be complaint number
one from Pernem and right down to Canacona. In Pernem for instance, the locals
were promised 500 jobs per year during the 2012 elections. In five years, not
more than 700 jobs have been allotted according to locals who know.
While the
broader issues like failed promises, destruction of Goa, corruption in
government, have made peripheral impact, the very local problems, bottlenecks
and difficulties, like health care, roads, power, availability of water, have
impacted people.
The
sentiment towards the Congress is interesting. For instance an elderly couple
(who chose not to come on record but shared their details for reference) from
Aldona told Herald on Tuesday morning, “We punished the Congress in 2012. They
have finished their sentence. It is time to take them out and allow them to
serve us.” Asked the reason for this confidence, the husband said, “They will
not make the same mistakes, we feel.” And with this, at least one extended
family of theirs has made their decision.
In terms
of numbers, the Congress seems to be getting two things right:
A) The almost sure possibility of retaining their previous seats, like Valpoi, Poriem, Curtorim, Taleigao and Margao.B) A very high chance of getting Ponda, Shiroda, St Andre and Navelim backC) Making earlier unexpected gains, which could lead to victories in Tivim, Panjim, Nuvem, Aldona, Sankhalim, Cuncolim and even Mandrem
The party will
look towards cashing in on this momentum, as it sees fighting a good battle in
other seats.
The
challenge and also the hope of the Congress is to overcome the problem of
splitting votes. But this is something only the people can handle. It doesn’t
matter how many Independent candidates or fringe parties that are in the fray
across the constituencies. Elections are won or lost by people, not parties.
The result of 2017 will be all about whether a decisive mandate is delivered.
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