Baffled Congress seeks answers after failure to wrest North seat

PANAJI: It did seem like Congress candidate Girish Chodankar would get a running start in North Goa due to the ongoing crisis in the mining industry, state government paralysis and anti-incumbency. However, the results on May 23 proved otherwise.

Sitting MP Shripad Yesso Naik secured a fifth consecutive Lok Sabha term winning the polls with a margin of 80,247 votes over Chodankar who managed to bag just 1.64 lakh votes for Congress, the highest so far by the party. The result stunned Congressmen, and Chodankar, who is also the state party president, has accepted responsibility for his failure to give the party a proper “direction” during the run-up to the Parliamentary elections.
In North Goa, Congress managed to take a 7,819 vote lead in Calangute, Taleigao, St Cruz and St Andre. The party was counting on votes in Aldona, Siolim and Saligao but encountered disappointment.
One of the biggest setbacks, say Congressmen, came from the mining belt. “Look at Sattari and Bicholim. We expected mining dependants to fully support Chodankar and they had assured us of support. But we did not get en masse support from them,” former chief minister Digambar Kamat said. “It looks like people must be happy with the mining problem,” said Congress spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar.
The party’s leadership is upset and baffled by the voting pattern in the mining belt even in South Goa. “We sat with them in Delhi when they were holding a protest. We went and listened to them, but it does not seem to have helped. I really don’t know why they have not supported us,” said Kamat. While several Congressmen have been left groping in the dark for answers for the party’s loss, some are beginning to look at the candidate itself.
The outsider tag was also used by BJP during the campaign. Chief minister Pramod Sawant had said that the Congress “imported” a candidate for the North Goa seat due to “dearth of a capable candidate”.
Congress also struggled to win the favour of voters in assembly constituencies where the local MLA is a Congressman. Poll watchers say there may be several factors for the verdict against Congress in North Goa. Unlike BJP, their organisational skills at the booth level are weak. “They need to learn from BJP or even AAP and reorganise themselves,” said a political commentator.