Congress damned to complete rout in Goa, if it does not declare candidates 3 months in advance

PANAJI: With other parties including new comers like the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) taking the lead in Goa, the Congress in Goa is damned to a sure rout if it does not declare its candidates well in advance and at least 3 months before the poll date.

Since most constituencies in Goa are small compared to those in other states, with an average of 20 to 30,000 voters in each constituency, voting in Goa is a very personal affair. Compare this to the Malad Vidhan Sabha constituency i in Mumbai, which has more than 3 lakh voters.

While party leaders may argue that the voters are voting for the party and not for the individual, the truth is far from different.

Firstly, in Goa the voters need to have a one-to-one contact with the candidate. They need to have direct access to the candidate whom they are voting for. Besides, the candidate must be seen and participate at functions, festivals and events within the constituency throughout the year.

Unlike BJP voters who vote for the party symbol, at least in Goa, Congress voters vote for the individual. That is why candidates like Wilfred D’Sa of Nuvem and Fillipe Neri Rodrigues of Velim will still get a sizable number of votes, even if they contest as independents.

And precisely that is why Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco can win the seat with a huge margin even if he contests as an independent without any party symbol.

The fact is that the candidate’s face, background and standing in the constituency is very important as far as Congress votes are concerned. Goa voters normally will not vote for a candidate who does not reside in the constituency and does not have a proper set up – read home and properly maintained office in the constituency.

In the past, the reasoning by senior Congress leaders in Goa was that if candidates are declared in advance, the other parties manage to bribe or “set” the candidate and “compromise” voters or set up “dummy independents” to dissipate the votes and manipulate the electorate.

Another reasoning given by senior Congress leaders is that  once a candidate is declared well in advance, it gives other same-party aspirants (aspirant Congress candidates who did not get the ticket) a chance to “sell and trade their personal votes” for cash to the Opposition parties.

All this will happen anyway, and if it happens in advance, damage control can be done. At least the candidate knows in advance who is really with him and who has switched sides for cash or is sitting on the fence. If done just 15 days in advance, the candidate gets so stressed out that he/she is not able to correct the situation.

Besides, any candidate needs at least two months to campaign and do at least 2 to 3 personal visits to every home, and no aspirant candidate will work hard and spend money unless he/she is sure of the ticket.  This is exactly what happened in Shiroda, Mapusa and Mandrem during the by-polls in 2019. The list of Congress candidates was declared 28 days prior to the polls.

The party first made the aspirant candidates attend several meetings, interview sessions and what not, and then declared the final list of candidates just 28 days before the polls, leaving all the aspirant candidates fuming.

In Shiroda, the entire Block Committee jumped over to a rival candidate, while in the other two constituencies there was nobody left in the Congress camp.

It is necessary for the selected candidate to have a sizable number of his/her own votes/voters – at least 15-20 per cent of the total registered voters in the constituency to be able to make on voting day.

The finalized candidate once confirmed needs at least 60 to 80 days to do a minimum of two personal visits to each and every home in his/her constituency, which is only possible if the candidate list is declared 3 months in advance.