Goa Election 2022 Results: Why cautious Congress does not want a repeat of 2017
The India Today-Axis My India Exit Poll predicts Congress having a slight edge over the BJP in the Goa State Assembly Elections 2022. As per the exit poll predictions, the Congress and its alliance Goa Forward Party (GFP) are expected to win 15-20 seats in the 40-seat Goa Assembly. BJP is expected to win 14-18 seats, while Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Trinamool Congress are expected to win 2-5 seats. The BJP’s vote share is expected to be around 33%; while the Congress’s vote share at 32%.
There is a neck-and-neck fight between the two major contenders in Goa. What plays a major role here is the impact of small political parties like MGP and GFP and the TMC, which can swing the government formation either way.
CONGRESS TOP BRASS IN ACTION
As per reports, the Congress party has moved its candidates to resorts amid defection fears. The party has tasked top leaders P Chidambaram and DK Shivakumar to open back-channel talks with other parties in case the state throws a fractured verdict like it did in 2017.
There is also news of Congress approaching TMC and even Aam Aadmi Party in Goa for a coalition. AAP’s chief ministerial candidate Amit Palekar confirmed to NDTV that the Congress party did approach AAP.
THE FIASCO OF 2017
In the 2017 State Assembly Elections, the Congress had to bite the dust. Though the verdict threw a hung assembly,
- The Congress party emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats, four short of the majority mark.
- The BJP got 13 seats.
- MGP and GFP won 3 seats each
- An NCP candidate won one seat.
But how did the Congress lose to the BJP despite it emerging as the single largest party in the state?
1. THE DEFECTION OF GFP
The Congress party showed little regard to Vijai Sardesai, the leader of GFP, before the Goa Assembly elections. One of the biggest reasons of him choosing the BJP over the Congress is the party’s wrong attitude towards him. Not only did the Congress annoy him by fielding a candidate against him in the 2017 Assembly elections, when he went to meet the Gandhis in New Delhi, he was made to wait for the entire day. A disappointed Sardesai then left for Panaji without meeting Rahul Gandhi.
2. THE SLACKNESS OF DIGVIJAY SINGH
Former Madhya Pradesh CM messed up big time in the Goa government formation. The decision to elect a Congress Legislature Party leader (CLP) leader couldn’t be taken the whole day. Camping at the Mandovi Hotel in Panaji, Digvijay Singh had the options of former CMs Digambar Kamat, Pratap Singh Rane and then state President Luzinho Faleiro. Digvijay Singh also kept waiting for Vijai Sardesai, who did not show up. After five hours, the disgruntled Congress MLAs left the hotel without selecting a coalition leader.
3. THE CONGRESS INFIGHTING
One core reason why the Congress lost to the BJP was the differences among the three top contenders for the CLP post. Digambar Kamat, Pratap Singh Rane and Luzinho Faleiro kept on outboxing each other at the meeting at the Goa hotel. Digvijay Singh couldn’t resolve their differences. Despite a secret ballot kept in the room for the vote, a CLP leader couldn’t be zeroed in on.
Congress’s Taligao MLA Jenniffer Monserrate expressed his frustration over Delhi leaders for losing the opportunity to select a CLP leader and forming a ruling coalition.
Digvijay Singh later took the responsibility of failing to form a coaltion government in Goa, but pinned the blame on Vijai Sardesai and Congress MLA Rohan Khaunte.
As the news reached BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari and Manohar Parrikar at the Taj Vivanta in Panaji, the two wasted no time in sealing the deal with allies or approaching the governor Mridul Sinha with a letter claiming the support of allies in forming the government.
The Congress lost big time in Goa in 2017.
4. THE ALACRITY OF AMIT SHAH AND NITIN GADKARI
According to a Times of India report, it was the then BJP President Amit Shah who had asked Nitin Gadkari to immediately fly to Goa and stake claim to form the government. The two leaders met at Shah’s residence on the day the results were announced.
Gadkari flew down to Goa and held talks with allies MGP and GFP to come together. The allies however, pledged support only on one condition: that late Manohar Parrikar be made the CM. Parrikar was the CM of Goa from 2012 to 2014. In 2014, he moved to the Union Cabinet as the Defence Minister.
Gadkari rang Amit Shah at 5 am the next morning and explained the whole situation. Shah got back to him after a talk with PM Narendra Modi and Parrikar, and said that they could move ahead with the plan. Also, it was interesting to see that out of 10 Cabinet ministers in the Goa Assembly, only three were from the BJP’s 13 winning candidates. The rest seven were from the MGP and GFP. True, a lot was bargained by the allies in return of their support.
In 2022, the Congress party seems to have learnt the bitter lesson from 2017.
The state of Goa, since the 1990s, has had a history of defections of legislators. This time around, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that the defections don't spoil the game plan this time.
The result of the Goa Assembly Elections 2022 will be out tomorrow, March 10.