Congress, which had officially contested the ZP polls for the first time, suffered a humiliating debacle by winning only one seat in North Goa and three in South Goa.
As they are only 13 months away from the assembly elections, the BJP’s victory in both corps of zilla panchayat could not have been much sweeter for the party. For Congress, its annihilation has driven the great party into a quagmire in which it finds itself.
His success in retaining both ZP bodies will now encourage BJP to proclaim him as a vindication of the working style of CM Pramod Sawant, who had lately been the subject of much criticism from the public and opposition for handling Covid-19. pandemic, “trample” the three infrastructure projects financed by the Center, non-resumption of mining and muddle of Mhadei, among others.
“It was indeed a litmus test for the prime minister,” said one political observer, “as the elections were held at a time when the state was fighting a crisis on many fronts.”
The victory will help the BJP to silence its detractors and the prime minister to raise his courage within the party.
This was the first time that the BJP challenged a full-fledged state election under Sawant’s supervision after he took over the reins of the state following the disappearance of former Prime Minister Manohar Parrikar in March 2019. During the Lok Sabha elections he faced afterward, he was only able to secure North Goa despite a huge wave in favor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Subsequently, Sawant faced elections in four constituencies and was able to win three of the four seats, but was unable to secure the prestigious segment of the Panaji assembly that was represented by Parrikar for a quarter of a century.
Significantly, unlike the last elections, the BJP has been able to take the reins of both ZP organs with its own forces, thus strengthening its political power in the second-tier institution of the panchayat raj.
What went in favor of the BJP was the massive defection of the 10th Congress and two MLAs from the MGP to the party, raising its tally to 27 in the 40-member legislative assembly.
In Salcete, the epicenter of the anti-coal protests, the opposition’s attempts to make political capital out of the agitation did not yield the desired results. The wave of sentiment against the three infrastructure projects financed by the Center did not translate into votes in their favor.
However, the defection of 10 MLAs from Congress to the BJP proved to be a drag on the saffron party in Salcete, where even the independents backed by him could not win. The defection also caused collateral damage to Congress as the great party was unable to retain its dominance over its traditional stronghold.
The victory of AAP candidate Hanzel Fernandes from the Benaulim constituency turned out to be the biggest gain for the fledgling party, which still has no electoral representation in the state.
The victory is likely to revitalize the AAP cadre at a time when the party is left without a formidable leader following the recent departure of former bureaucrat Elvis Gomes, who led the party’s unit in Goa as a state convener for four years.
With the triumph of the BJP, political observers said, Sawant has managed to strengthen his position within the party and the government he leads.
By winning the ZP elections, Sawant has become a party leader in his own right. He left no stone unturned to ensure the party’s victory, even ignoring the threat of the pandemic, although it meant taking calculating risks by exposing people to the threat of infection, “said a political commentator.
Although the party has already declared that it will contest the 2022 assembly elections under Sawant’s leadership, the sources said, the prime minister will now be in a better position to negotiate with the party when it comes to ticket distribution and tickets. planning strategies.
However, election watchers warn that the 2022 assembly polls will be an entirely different ball game. “Although the BJP has won the ZP elections, it will not be so easy for the party to win the assembly elections. 13 months is a long time in politics during which new equations can be formed, forces realigned and upheavals intensify, ”said one political commentator.
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