It’s Advantage BJP all the way in South Goa, opine Political Observers

PANAJI: While the Congress Lok Sabha candidate in South Goa, Viriato Fernandes put in a lot of effort, several political observers whom we spoke to have suggested that it is advantage BJP all the way in South Goa for the main reason that the BJP has a very strong karyakarta base in the state and the presence of senior leaders like Sudin Dhavalikar, Deepak Dhavalikar, Digambar Kamat, Ravi Naik, Alexio Sequiera and Alexio Reginald in the BJP camp with their own personal voter base, in their respective constituencies, is a big bonus for the saffron party.

BJP has a well-oiled, well-funded karyakarta network: Trajano D’mello

According to political analyst Trajano D’mello, “The BJP in South Goa will be clearly leading big time in the hinterland. Even if Salcete gives the Congress candidate the maximum lead possible, it will not be enough to beat the BJP in places like Madkai, Ponda, Shiroda, Quepem, Sanvordem and Canacona. Besides, BJP voters do not need access to the Member of Parliament. They are mostly concerned with their local MLA. So the inaccessibility factor (inaccessibility to the BJP candidate) will not make any difference to the voters who will chose to vote for the candidate their local MLA recommends.”

Others also voiced similar sentiments. The mood in the market in Goa is for the BJP. The Congress declared their candidates very late. In North Goa, the Lok Sabha candidate could hardly do any personal door-to-door visits. The same was the situation in South Goa and Fernandes was mostly restricted to interacting with the voters at corner meetings and at markets.

A veteran politician from South Goa who did not want to be named, said door-to-door personal visits make a big difference. “At least once in 5 years, the candidate must visit voters, visit their homes and sit and talk to them. Due to lack of time, the Congress candidate could not have done this in South Goa. This starts at least six months before election. However, the problem with the Congress (and the BJP to some extent) is that candidates do not know where they stand till the last 28 or 29 days before polls.

Last but not the least, the BJP had no dearth of funds. Party workers were well-paid with a stipend and taken care of in terms of food, transport and other out-of-pocket expenses. This was not the case with Congress workers. Several Congress workers were venting their fury online on WhatsApp groups, a day after the polls, criticizing the Congress candidates and their management, saying they did not get even a glass of water. It was also visible on the day of polling. There were hardly any Congress volunteers on the ground to bring people to the polling booths. The BJP on the other hand had a system known as man-to-man marking. Every voter was accounted for and there was an ‘in-charge’ responsible for every voter.