News Analysis India

Tag: Goa Assembly polls

  • Goa polls: Congress decides to act swiftly to stake claim for government formation

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Congress veteran P Chidambaram held a meeting with the Goa Assembly poll candidates of his party and those of ally GFP on Wednesday night, where it was decided that the alliance will name its leader immediately after the election results are out and stake claim for government formation, sources said.

    The decision is meant to avoid a repeat of the 2017 fiasco when the Congress had failed to form a government in Goa despite scoring the maximum number of seats.

    Polling for the 40-member House was held on February 14 and the counting of votes will be taken up on Thursday.

    Most exit polls have predicted a hung House in the tiny coastal state, leading the political parties to formulate their strategies keeping in mind different post-result scenarios.

    The Congress had contested the election on 37 seats, while ally Goa Forward Party (GFP) had fielded three candidates.

    The Congress, which had kept its candidates in a luxury hotel at Bambolim near Panaji in North Goa since Tuesday evening, shifted them to another resort in Margao town on Wednesday evening.

    This resort is owned by one of the party candidates.

    Sources said that Chidambaram, who is Congress’s Goa election in-charge, held a meeting with the candidates of the Congress and the GFP, which was also attended by Karnataka Congress president D K Shivkumar, who is currently camping in Goa.

    During the meeting, it was decided to elect the leader of the group immediately after the results are out and stake claim to form the government with state Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai.

    “The appointment with the governor would be sought immediately after the results are declared. We don’t want to commit the mistakes that happened after the 2017 election results,” a senior party office-bearer said.

    Talking to reporters, Shivkumar said that all the candidates are together and there is no worry of any split.

    “BJP is known for its habit of poaching. That is why we have asked all our candidates to stay in a common hotel,” he said.

    In 2017, despite winning 17 seats, the Congress could not come to power as the BJP, which had bagged 13 seats, allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government under the leadership of its stalwart Manohar Parrikar.

    The BJP eyes a third consecutive term in office.

  • Congress will form next government in Goa, says Michael Lobo

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Congress leader and former Goa minister Michael Lobo on Thursday expressed confidence that the party will form the government in the state by dislodging the BJP after the Assembly poll results come out on March 10, and dismissed speculations that the Sonia Gandhi-led party will split in the coastal state.

    Addressing a press conference in the presence of Leader of Opposition Digmbar Kamat and Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar, Lobo also dismissed rumours that the top BJP leadership was in touch with him to switch over after the results next week.

    “If the results are out by 3 pm on March 10, the Congress will form the government by 5 pm,” he claimed.

    Lobo, who joined the Congress in January this year after quitting the BJP-led state cabinet, said the people of Goa knew who was making false claims about him.

    “Don’t fall prey to such rumors. Nobody will leave the Congress. Let the BJP try pressure tactics also by using the Enforcement Directorate and other agencies. We all are united and will not leave the Congress,” he asserted.

    Lobo said the Congress will provide a stable government in the state.

    “The BJP will be in the opposition and we are confident about it,” he said.

    Lobo claimed leaders of other parties in the state were in touch with the Congress.

    “They are not interested in supporting the BJP. Not a single independent MLA or the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party will go near the BJP, as it back-stabbed the MGP. Nobody trusts them now,” Lobo claimed.

    The Congress leader said on March 10, the people of the state would be happy after “liberation from the BJP”.

    After the 2017 Goa Assembly polls, the Congress had emerged as the single party by winning 17 seats in the 40-member House.

    However, the BJP, which bagged 13 seats, then quickly tied-up with some regional outfits, including the MGP, and independents to form government.

    Over the last five years, several Congress leaders quit the party and its strength in the Assembly was reduced to two.

    Polls to elect the new state Assembly were held on February 14 this year and the counting of votes would be done on March 10.

  • Rahul Gandhi woos voters in Goa’s mining belt with promise to resume stalled industry

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the iron ore mining in Goa will be resumed as soon as his party comes to power in the state after the Assembly elections.

    He was speaking at a public meeting in Curchorem constituency in South Goa district, a part of the mining belt.

    “Congress will restart the mining industry as soon as the party forms government,” Gandhi said, campaigning ahead of the February 14 elections.

    He questioned the seriousness of the ruling BJP’s assurance that mining will be resumed within six months.

    “BJP leaders say that they will resume mining. Then why didn’t they do it in the last five years?” he asked.

    Gandhi also said that all projects which are detrimental to the coastal state’s interests will be scrapped, including three projects which would affect the Mollem Wildlife Sanctuary.

    The Congress leader also blamed the BJP for `rampant unemployment’ in the state, claiming that the policies of the Union government affected the small and medium industries, leading to this situation.

    “Everyone should get justice. Hence we have decided to restart mining to create employment and give justice to those dependent on mining for livelihood,” he said.

    Mining in Goa came to a standstill in 2018 after the Supreme Court set aside mining leases for various illegalities.

    The state used to earn a revenue of around Rs 1,000 crore a year from the industry.

  • PM Narendra Modi distracting people of Goa from real issues: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of distracting the attention of people of Goa from real issues like environment and employment.

    Criticising Modi over his statement that if Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wanted, Goa could have been liberated “within hours” in 1947 when India attained independence, Gandhi said the prime minister does not understand the situation of those times and what was happening post-World War II.

    Addressing a press conference in Margao, around 35 kms from here, Gandhi expressed confidence that the Congress will win majority of seats in the February 14 Goa assembly elections and there won’t be any need for post-poll alliances.

    “Modi has come to Goa because he wants to distract Goa from real issues like employment, environment…Did he speak anything about environment and employment? BJP’s manifesto has no word about environment,” Gandhi said.

    The prime minister should tell Goans what they have done for creating employment in the state and for tourism industry and environment. Modi, while addressing an election rally at Mapusa near here on Thursday, had slammed the Congress, saying its government took 15 years to liberate Goa from the Portuguese rule.

    Targeting him over the remarks, Gandhi said, “Freedom fighters have commented on this issue. Academics have spoken about it. The sad fact is that the PM does not understand the history of those times. He does not understand what was going on post-World War II. He is coming to Goa to distract people from the real issues like environment and employment.”

    ALSO READ| If Nehru wanted, Goa could have been freed ‘within hours’ in 1947: PM Narendra Modi

    Gandhi also alleged that the BJP came to power in Goa and ruled it for the last five years by stealing the mandate given to the Congress by the people. “Congress will get full majority in Goa and there will be no question of any alliances. Congress will act immediately to ensure we have a government in Goa,” he said.

    In the 2017 elections, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in Goa by winning 17 seats in the 40-member House, but could not come to power as the BJP, which bagged 13, acted swiftly and allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government under Manohar Parrikar, who died in 2019.

    This time, the Congress is contesting the election in alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP). While the Congress has fielded 37 candidates, the GFP has given tickets to three. Gandhi, who is on a day-long visit to the coastal state, said if his party comes to power, it will start sustainable mining in the state.

    “We have studied the subject. There is no problem in restarting the mining in a legal way. We are going to allow legal and sustainable mining which will give a large number of jobs. Your spirit and tourism is a huge asset. I have spoken to different stakeholders in the tourism industry, we have a plan to completely rejuvenate the tourism industry,” he said.

    The iron ore mining industry, which used to be one of the major sources of revenue for Goa, had come to a grinding halt in the state in March 2018 after the Supreme Court quashed 88 mining leases. Gandhi said the Congress proposes to invest money and energy for turning Goa into an IT and knowledge hub, so that many young Goans can get jobs in the IT industry.

    CLICK HERE FOR FULL COVERAGE OF GOA ELECTIONS

    The Congress leader assured that three linear projects in Goa – a national highway expansion project, Tamnar power transmission project and the South West Railways’ double-tracking that cut through the biodiversity hotspot of Mollem – would be scrapped, if his party comes to power.

    “The issue of environment is crucial for Goa. You would say that these three linear projects are in the ambit of central government, but after assuming power, the Congress will resist the idea of these projects. We will not let them happen,” he said.

    There is also the issue of unemployment in Goa, Gandhi said. He refused to comment on the raging controversy over ‘hijab’ and said he would not get into any kind of conversation that will distract the people of Goa. “My mission is to focus what is important for the people of Goa,” he said.

  • I was called by ED 10 times after TMC entered Goa politics: Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday claimed that ever since his party forayed into Goa’s electoral politics, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned him eight to ten times at the behest of the BJP.

    In controversial remarks, he told Goan voters to “take money from the BJP, but vote for the TMC” in the February 14 assembly polls.

    Addressing a public meeting at Cumbharjua in North Goa, he said the BJP has been “misusing power” and targeting the TMC, the ruling party in West Bengal.

    The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is contesting the assembly polls in Goa in an alliance with the MGP, the state’s oldest regional outfit.

    Abhishek Banerjee is the nephew of Mamata Banerjee.

    The Trinamool Congress general secretary claimed his party has become a formidable force in the tiny coastal state ruled by the BJP.

    “The BJP has been misusing power against the TMC, which has become a formidable force in Goa. Every since the TMC has come to Goa, the Enforcement Directorate, at the behest of the BJP, has summoned me eight to ten times,” the Lok Sabha MP claimed.

    Banerjee asserted his party will not get intimidated and vowed to fight back.

    “I am standing here and I give you my word that no matter how much the BJP tries to intimidate us, we will not bow down before them,” he said.

    “Till the time I am alive, till the time blood is flowing through my veins, I will continue to fight for your rights,” the top TMC leader said, making an emotional pitch for his party and seeking votes for it in what is a new terrain for the 24-year-old outfit which is still to make a mark outside its stronghold of West Bengal.

    Banerjee told Goan voters to punish the BJP for its “betrayal”.

    “You take money from the BJP, but vote for don fula (two flowers – poll symbol of TMC) and betray the BJP like they betrayed Goans in 2017 (when the saffron party came to power),” said the 34-year-old politician.

    Banerjee said the greatest betrayal for Goans was in 2017 when “every MLA people voted for sold his soul for Rs 50 crore”.

    “Everyone in Goa is aware of this fact. There are 20,000 to 25,000 voters per constituency. So, you can calculate for yourself. One vote for them costs Rs 20,000,” he said.

    Besides the BJP, he also targeted the opposition Congress.

    The TMC leader said, “Your vote, your trust, your faith, your love, your blessings, your honour is being sold by both the BJP and the Congress for a mere Rs 20,000.

    Banerjee said what happened with Goa in 2017 has never happened in any other state during the last 50 years.

    “You voted for the Congress and rejected the BJP. But the Congress played with the love and trust of the people of Goa. Buying and selling politics must stop in Goa,” he said.

    After the last assembly polls, the Congress emerged as the single largest party, but it was the BJP which formed a government by quickly forging an alliance with smaller parties and Independent MLAs.

    Banerjee said the time has come to vote for clean politics and this can be ensured only by the TMC-led alliance.

    “Voting for any other party except the Trinamool Congress is equal to voting for the BJP which in turn means defeat of Goa,” he added.

    Referring to the BJP’s oft-repated talk of “double engine” goverment, Banerjee dismissed it as “double loot”.

    The term “double engine” is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state.

    “Loot of resources is happening in Goa and another loot of the national exchequer is happening in Delhi (Centre),” the TMC leader said.

    The state, which has a 40-member assembly, will go to the polls on February 14 and votes will be counted on March 10.

  • BJP’s Christian outreach in Goa with 30 per cent tickets

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: While the BJP is contesting on a Hindutva agenda in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, in Goa it has changed tack as it realises that the road to power lies via the Christian vote bank. Of the 40 candidates fielded by the party, 12, i.e., 30 per cent, are Christians.

    The Christians comprise 25-27 per cent vote base in Goa, second largest after Hindus. However, Hindus do not vote as a block. Earlier, the BJP had tried its strategy of Hindu votes’ consolidation in the coastal state but that did not work. 

    “With Hindu vote bank politics, BJP never crossed 10 seat-mark in Goa Assembly. This time, it has decided to accommodate as many minority candidates as possible. Whether that works or not will be interesting to see because other parties are also banking on the same vote bank in the name of secular politics,” said a political observer.

    Among the BJP’s Christian candidate is Atanasio Monserrate, who has been fielded from Panaji denying ticket to former chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal. A BJP leader admitted that the party wanted to send out a message to the minority community by preferring Monserrate over Utpal.

    Interestingly, Manohar Parrikar had a good support base among the Christian community, which helped him and the BJP remain in power for a long time.

    “Now, Parrikar is not around while his son Utpal has posed a challenge to the official BJP candidate. By denying ticket to Utpal, we have sent a message to the Christians that Monserrate is more important than him,” the leader said.

    The BJP had fielded six Christian candidates in 2012 elections and seven in 2017. Both times, all these candidates romped home. After 10 Congress MLAs joined the BJP in 2019, BJP’s Catholic MLAs’ in tally rose to 15.

  • BJP is banking on Cong defections for forming next govt in Goa, Kejriwal claims

    By PTI

    PANAJI: The ruling BJP’s “strategy” after the Goa Assembly elections would be to woo Congress legislators and form government again, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed on Tuesday.

    The Aam Aadmi Party leader arrived in the coastal state for a four-day campaigning tour ahead of February 14 elections.

    Speaking to reporters at the airport, he said, “This Assembly election is crucial for Goa. Goans must decide what is best for them. One option is to support the AAP, which has promised a corruption-free government. Another option is to support the BJP directly or indirectly. In the last election, Goans were fed up with the BJP government and chose Congress. But Congress MLAs let them down,” he said.

    The situation was the same this time with talk of Congress defections in every part of the state, Kejriwal said. “The BJP has planned a new strategy. Once Congress candidates win their seats, they are going to join the BJP,” he claimed.

    ALSO READ: Atanasio Monserrate Babush: Social worker candidate in Goa owns fleet of cars

    The BJP knows that it cannot form a government without winning across the Salcette bastion of Congress, so it has put up seven candidates in the constituencies in the area on Congress ticket and is financing them, he alleged.

    In 2017, Congress had emerged as the single-largest party, but it could not form a government. Most of its legislators deserted the party over the next five years.

  • Goa polls 2022: Congress-GFP accuse Trinamool Congress of collecting data via voter awareness drive

    By PTI

    PANAJI: The Congress and Goa Forward Party on Saturday alleged the Trinamool Congress and poll strategy firm IPAC were collecting voter data in a “dubious manner” in the run up to the Goa Assembly polls scheduled for February 14.

    Goa Congress general secretary Sunil Kawthankar and GFP general secretary (organisation) Durgadas Kamat told reporters the two parties had jointly submitted a complaint with the Chief Election Commission in New Delhi against the TMC and IPAC.

    Kawthankar claimed the TMC and IPAC are giving out cards to women claiming they will get money once the Mamata Banerjee-led party comes to power here, and in the process were collecting personal details. “The TMC claims some three lakh women and over two lakh youth have enrolled for these schemes. It is not an awareness drive for their 2022 election campaign, but in fact a massive data collection drive in a dubious manner, which will be used for other purposes,” he alleged.

    Kamat said a complaint has been lodged with the CEC and promised the TMC and IPAC would not be allowed to carry on with this exercise.

  • Goa elections: Congress’ Pratapsingh Rane withdraws from fray after BJP fields kin from same seat

    By PTI

    PANAJI: In a setback to the Congress in Goa, party veteran and former state chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, whom the grand old party gave ticket from his traditional Poriem seat for the next month’s Assembly elections, has now withdrawn from the poll race.

    Although Rane was not available for comment, a Congress leader on Friday confirmed that the former CM has told the party that he will not be contesting the February 14 election.

    Sources close to Rane told PTI that the veteran leader has decided to withdraw from the fray to avoid a clash with his daughter-in-law, Deviya Rane, who will be contesting the election from Poriem constituency as a candidate of the ruling BJP.

    Rane (87), who has served as the chief minister of the coastal state for six times, had won from the Poriem Assembly constituency as many as 11 consecutive times. “Pratapsingh Rane has confirmed that he won’t be contesting the upcoming polls from Poriem, after which the party has selected another candidate from the seat,” a Congress spokesperson said.

    The BJP has nominated his daughter-in-law Deviya Rane, wife of state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, from Poriem. Reports were rife that Pratapsingh Rane might suggest the name of his wife, Vijayadevi, to the Congress as its candidate from the seat.

    But the revised list of candidates, which the Congress announced on Thursday evening named Ranjit Rane as its nominee from that constituency. Reportedly, the BJP had earlier tried to convince Pratapsingh Rane to contest on its ticket from Poriem before announcing the name of his daughter-in-law.

    The incumbent Pramod Sawant-led Goa government has bestowed upon Rane the lifetime cabinet status for completing 50 years as a legislator. Rane was elected from Poriem constituency for the first time in 1972 on the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), but fought all subsequent elections till 2017 as a Congress candidate.

    In the 2017 polls, he had secured 54.27 per cent votes in the constituency winning with a major margin.

    Deviya Rane will be contesting her maiden Assembly election, while her husband Vishwajit has been winning from Valpoi Assembly segment since 2007, first as an independent, then as a Congress candidate, before he joined the BJP.

  • AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal joins door-to-door campaign for party candidates in Goa

    By PTI

    PANAJI: With Goa Assembly elections just a month away and many political parties vying for a power pie, AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday joined his party’s candidates in their door-to-door campaign and claimed to have received a good response from people.

    Kejriwal, who arrived in Goa on Saturday afternoon, joined the campaign at St Andre Assembly constituency in North Goa. The Delhi CM claimed that there is an immense response from the people for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominees. “Voters in Goa are looking for a change. There are issues like unemployment which needs to be addressed,” he told reporters.

    Kejriwal reiterated AAP’s promise of providing honest governance to the people of Goa if the party comes to power after the February 14 elections. When asked about the AAP’s electoral prospects when many national political parties are in the fray, Kejriwal said the voters have faith in AAP.

    ALSO READ| Former Punjab minister Joginder Mann joins AAP

    “The voters feel that the AAP government will resolve their issues. All the guarantees announced by us, including providing free and interrupted electricity supply, unemployment allowance, reservation in employment for locals, will be fulfilled,” he added.

    The AAP has so far declared two lists of candidates for the Goa polls, fielding former BJP ministers Mahadev Naik, Alina Saldanha and lawyer-turned-politician Amit Palekar. Besides the traditional contestants such as BJP, Congress, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, and the Goa Forward Party, Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is the new entrant in Goa politics.

    In the 2017 Assembly polls for the 40-member Goa Assembly, AAP had drawn a blank. In the previous polls, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in Goa as it won 17 seats in the 40-member House.

    However, it failed to form the government after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which bagged 13, allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government under Manohar Parrikar who passed away in 2019.

    BJP’s Pramod Sawant is the incumbent chief minister. The Congress has already announced its pre-poll alliance with the GFP, while the TMC has a tie-up with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) for the upcoming polls.

    Recently, the TMC had hinted at a grand alliance comprising the Congress and AAP to take on the BJP.