Goa ZP by-polls: Congress split wide open in Cortalim

PANAJI: Even as the Congress unit in Goa put up a brave front – after the dramatic switch over of 8 of their MLAs to the BJP, led by former CM Digambar Kamat and ex-CLP Michael Lobo, declaring their candidates for the Zilla Panchayat by-polls well in advance, the party seems to be split wide open in Cortalim.

The Zilla Panchayat (ZP) by-elections are scheduled for October 16 and it is a matter of prestige for Goa CM Pramod Sawant to get the BJP candidates elected, while the Congress has to prove that it is still relevant in the coastal state.

Other players like the Revolutionary Goans party (RGP) are flexing their muscles as usual, making noises to prove that they are Goa’s answer to issues like unemployment and unruly migrants.

One camp in the Congress is led by Olencio Simoes, but according to insiders does not have grassroots support, while the other camp is led by unknown faces opposed to the rise of Simoes in the grand old party, who consider Simoes to be an “outsider”

Simoes himself had contested the ZP polls as a BJP candidate years before switching over to the Aam Aadmi Party.

He finally landed with the Congress and was rewarded with the ticket for the Goa Assembly elections, but was beaten by an independent Anton aka Antonio Vas, who has subsequently supported the ruling BJP in the state and was rewarded with a government post.

A group of old-time Congress voters in Cortalim consider the newly-joined Valent Barbosa – who was given the Congress ticket for the ZP polls, as a plant or dummy for MLA Anton Vas who is keen on ensuring that the Congress is routed in the ZP polls.

Vas has a point to prove to his BJP bosses and using money and muscle power has already ensured that his stooge gets the Congress ticket.

According to our source, “Vas has lots of money to spare. Matka funds are used in Cortalim to win elections. Even during the last ZP polls and during the Assembly polls, voters were ‘paid’ and votes were bought.”

For the anti-Barbosa and anti-Simoes group, Simoes is only a social media leader who has no genuine or mass connect with the people of Cortalim.

So much so that somebody recently remarked in a WhatsApp group, advising Simoes that he must give up his vacation in Cortalim and work in the constituency where he actually comes from. Simoes lives in Calangute, but originally hails from Nerul, which is in the Saligao constituency.

Not just in Cortalim, even in the rest of the state, several senior Congress leaders are secretly unhappy with the developments and the rise of Simoes. They want a senior leader to be handed the reins in the locality, which has a large ST and migrant voter base.

Simoes and Vas were unavailable for comment as attempts to contact them were futile. Goa Congress President Amit Patkar did not take our calls or reply to our messages. We will update this story when any of them responds to us.