Panaji, June 4 – Despite losing two Assembly constituencies in South Goa due to leaders switching to the BJP, the Congress managed to retain the Lok Sabha seat with support from its INDIA bloc partners AAP and Goa Forward Party (GFP), along with voters from Christian-dominated segments.
While the BJP attempted to secure votes from its Hindu-dominated strongholds, it could not compensate for the losses in Congress bastions. The Benaulim and Velim constituencies, represented by AAP MLAs, contributed significantly to the Congress candidate Capt Vinato Fernandes, with leads of around 14,181 and 13,350 votes respectively. GFP MLA Vijai Sardesai played a crucial role in campaigning against the BJP government, highlighting issues such as alleged corruption in the refurbishment of the Kala Academy and the National Games.
The Congress also gained a lead of 10,895 votes in the Nuvem constituency, represented by Alexio Sequeira, recently inducted into Pramod Sawant’s cabinet.
During the election campaign, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant expressed confidence in his party workers and the ‘double power’ derived from new members who had switched to the BJP. Despite these efforts, the BJP could not overcome the Congress’s stronghold in South Goa.
Former Chief Ministers Digambar Kamat and Ravi Naik, along with Alexio Sequeira, were among the eight Congress MLAs who joined the BJP in 2022. Ravi Naik joined the BJP two months before the 2022 assembly election.
MGP MLA Sudin Dhavalikar, now Power Minister in Sawant’s government, had previously supported the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, contributing to BJP’s loss in South Goa by 9,755 votes. Dhavalikar’s support was a retaliation after being dropped from the cabinet in the BJP’s last term (2017-2022).
In the recent election, BJP leads in Hindu-dominated constituencies such as Shiroda (4,985 votes), Ponda (5,598 votes), and Marcaim (10,748 votes) were insufficient to match the Congress’s performance in Christian-dominated areas. The Congress secured a lead of 5,548 votes in Cuncolim and 784 votes in Quepem.
Political observers credit the Christian community for helping the Congress defeat BJP candidate Pallavi Dempo, an industrialist, in South Goa.
