Congress plays hide and seek to form an alliance to defeat the communal forces in Goa -- By Nisser Dias

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi conveyed a mixed message to its Goa unit. He recently advised the Goan MLAs who had visited him not to close doors on an alliance with secular parties to be followed by another message urging all the blocks in Goa to gear up to face elections. This has left it workers in confused state of mind. How the buzz at the ground level in Goa seems to be different as sources in the Congress indicated that the doors seems to have been sealed on a ‘mahagatbandhan or alliance’.

And the likely reason being the other parties are asking for too many seats which is likely to leave the Congress with just the 9 seats they currently have in their kitty in the Assembly.

This equation personifies in the Salcete taluka, which the Congress always considered it as its bastion but during the 2012 election had to contend with only two seats.

Salcete taluka consists of eight constituencies

namely Nuvem, Fatorda, Benaulim, Navelim, Velim, Curtorim, Cuncolim, Margao. At the 2012 Assembly hustings it managed to secure only two namely Margao and Curtorim, while Nuvem and Benaulim were won by Goa Vikas Party (GVP), Fatorda, Navelim, Velim and Benaulim went to the independents and BJP bagged Cuncolim.

In the present scenario NCP Goa president Jose Philip D’souza says, besides Benaulim they would want Navelim as they have a strong presence there in case of alliance with the Congress and other secular minded parties.

Presently Navelim is being represented by independent MLA and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado who had defeated Churchill Alemao in 2012. The Congress as of now does not have a leader and rumours of GPCC Luizinho Faleiro’s wanting to contest doing the round has muddied the waters further.

In Benaulim, NCP has already declared Churchill as their candidate but the Congress though had one nomination from the block president Edwin Barreto, is yet to declare their candidate giving a head start to AAP and NCP who have already started a vigorous campaign. The current MLA Caitu D’silva is also in the fray but is said to be contesting independently.

Goa Forward also wants to extend its tentacles to Velim constituency in Salcete  through its candidate Anthony Rodrigues, which is being represented by an independent Benjamin D’silva.

Goa Forward party symbol

Cuncolim is currently BJP’s seat. The Congress is a fix as its former MLA Joaquim Alemao has threatened to contest on People’s ticket if denied his party ticket. To add to the confusion ex-civil servant Elvis Gomes who has a sizeable following being son of the soil has thrown his hat in the ring and have bagged the AAP ticket.

So that leaves Congress with Curtorim and Margao in case of an alliance. Goa Forward mentor Vijay Sardessai when was asked if his party has closed doors on an alliance with the Congress he said, “I am giving due weightage to public sentiments and according to a survey 70 percent of Goa does not want BJP to come back to, power, but majority of people still feel BJP will form the government”. “Respecting people’s sentiments I am open for an alliance with everybody and anybody to send BJP home, but this has been mis-construed as a weakness on my side and I do not need Congress to win in Fatorda”. “What I’m asking for is the unity of forces in the opposition to get rid of the BJP to save Goem, Goemkar and Goemkponn”.

Congress party spokesperson advocate Pratima Coutinho said, “most of the blocks in Goa have opposed alliance as our people have been working for five years and we have 3 to 4 candidates in the block and if alliance takes place these people will be sidelined and it will affect the grassroot workers, but decision of an alliance solely depends on the high command including the GPCC president”.