Goa Polls: TMC candidates will have no option, but to “buy voters”

PANAJI: With less than 4 months to go for the Goa State Assembly elections, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidates will have no option but to buy voters, paying huge amounts clandestinely and illegally to each voter, a survey has revealed.

The reasons for this are manifold: The TMC has not yet been able to rope in any big names, and former Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro was anyway in hibernation for the last few years. He was hardly or never seen on the ground, leading agitations or speaking out vociferously against issues concerning the common man. It was as though he had retired from active politics. His voter or loyalty base is now restricted to at most 2-3 constituencies and as such Faleiro has not even been projected as the CM face of the TMC in Goa. He may most probably be sent to the Rajya Sabha, which seems evident from the fact that he has not yet hit the streets of Goa.

While the TMC initially said it wants to go solo, there is a strong possibility that it may align with regional parties like the Goa Forward Party (GFP) or rope in independents. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) has already shown inclination to go with the BJP as is evident from the recent overtures between the two ‘natural allies’.

The ordinary Goan is yet to see any genuine activity from the TMC. There are no dynamic leaders with a proven track record as yet in the TMC fold. The TMC is attracting deadwood, hoping to revive their political careers or others hoping to make a fast buck or for that matter keep their kitchen fires burning.

We spoke to a small, but diverse segment of about 200 Goans asking them if they would vote for the TMC. Most were not sure as they had not seen any concrete action from the TMC.

Besides for a party like the Congress or BJP in Goa, its OK for them to declare their candidates about two months in advance. However for newer parties like the TMC and the Aam Aadmi Party, they will have to declare their candidates at least three months in advance to give the candidate enough time to interact, on a one to one level, not just once but several times before the polls, with each and every family in their constituency.

This is because voting patterns in Goa are very different and the face value of the candidate is very important. Goans do not vote for a party symbol alone, the face value or local brand equity of the individual candidate makes a hell lot of a difference and can even account for as much as 85 percent of the votes polled in favor of the party.

Candidates who are active among the youth in their constituencies, seen at festivals and local functions as well as during troubled times like floods or situations like the recent lock downs, are more likely to be voted for, irrespective of which party symbol they contest on.