Sandesh Prabhudesai
22 April 1999
Congress will have a tough time fighting the Bharatiya Janata Party in
a tiny tourist state this time, if mid-term polls are announced immediately.
The state is preparing itself to face Assembly polls, probably next
month, as it is presently under the President’s rule after premature dissolution of
the House in February. Series of defections and counter-defections, resulting into three
chief ministers in last six months of the Assembly, finally led to the imposition of
section 356 here.
Though the Congress presently appears to be in a more comfortable
position compared to other parties to fight the state Assembly elections, the BJP has
emerged as a force to reckon with, sidelining all the regional parties.
In fact, the saffron party is now planning an offensive game by holding
the Congress responsible for pulling down the Vajpayee-led coalition government, in order
to create a sympathy wave to woo the electorate.
The Congress, on the other hand, appears to be adopting a defensive
line by denying its hand in the central toppling game while strengthening its attack
against the BJP, reminding the Catholics and other secular-minded people of attacks on
minorities.
But if the state Assembly elections are held along with the general
mid-term polls, the whole picture could change. The BJP, having a clean image in the state
as the party is just emerging as a political force here, has all the benefits to its side
to project its positive sides.
The Congress, however, will have more things to hide and defend rather
than things to project as the party has been ruling locally for the last over ten years,
with lots of corruption cases and its legislators displaying their greed to the optimum.
Though both the MPs of Goa belong to the Congress, the general
elections held last year had proved to be a real nightmare for them. Both Ravi Naik
(North) and Francisco Sardinha (South) could win only due to split in the votes among the
BJP and the regional parties - Ramakant Khalap’s Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and
Churchill Alemao’s then United Goans Democratic Party.
Despite losing both the seats, the BJP gained almost 16 per cent last
year whereas the Congress could win with slender margin in both the constituencies while
also losing four per cent to the BJP. Khalap and Alemao, who were elected MPs with a huge
margin in ’96 polls, were pushed down to the third place, once again by the BJP.
Even in the Assembly polls, Goa’s educated voter (almost 75 per
cent) has started showing more trust in the national parties like the Congress and BJP
while showing little trust in the regional parties. A recent survey conducted by one
private firm indicates swing in favour of both the national parties whereas all the
regional forces put together do not cross 15 per cent.
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