The results, its revelations, repercussions and more

A dive into what the recently concluded Lok Sabha general elections will mean for Goa and its politics.

It was an eventful week not just in Goa but across the country as the results of the 18th Lok Sabha elections that were declared on Tuesday revealed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, that set itself a lofty ambition of winning 370 seats, and coined the slogan Ab ki Baar, 400 paar (this time we’ll cross 400) was reduced to 240 seats and thanks to alliance partners was able to cross the majority figure of 272 claiming the support of 292 MPs. 

In Goa, the BJP and the Congress shared the spoils with the BJP’s Shripad Naik retaining the north Goa seat for a record sixth time, while the south Goa seat was retained by the Congress with it’s candidate and former Navy Captain Viriato Fernandes winning the seat by a margin of around 13,000 votes. 

The south Goa seat was the closely contested of the two seats and -- let’s be frank -- the seat where the real battle was.

It was no ordinary electoral contest -- on the line was not just a seat that was long considered a Congress bastion having been represented by Congress veteran Eduardo Faleiro five times in a row, until his reign was ended by Churchill Alemao of the UGDP in 1996 -- but also the question of whether falling population, increasing percentage of expatriates and changing demographics meant Christians no longer held sway over the outcome of the election. 

It was also a test for several MLAs who switched over from the Congress to the BJP and most importantly what was on the line was the reputation of arguably Goa’s most well known business house -- the Dempos -- whose decision to depart from a decades long tradition of not being directly involved in electoral politics has backfired and how. 

This and more was emphatically answered by the electorate by the results revealed on Tuesday. So here are some key takeaways from the South Goa seat: 

• For an election that threatened to split along communal lines -- with the ruling BJP not so indiscreetly targeting minorities through statements like calling on the people of Goa to “wipe the signs of the Portuguese,” targeting Congress candidate Viriato Fernandes for his statement that Goans were not consulted at the time of the drafting of the constitution, and the Chief Minister’s claim that Goans got their identity because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, completely neglecting the fact that it was the opinion poll way back in 1967 that secured a separate identity for Goa, it was heartening to see people across caste and religious lines coming together to vote for a man who is arguably among the few good men in the fray or as we say in Konkani “boro munis.”  

• The results have since brought out a different side of the ruling party with the Prime Minister now saying he is committed to serve the country’s Christian community

• The opposition won the polls despite representing just five seats of the 20 assembly segments that make up the parliamentary constituency. 

• The BJP was quick to blame the interference of ‘religious leaders’ as one of the reasons for its loss in south Goa. However, contrary to popular belief, Viriato’s win is not down to the way Salcete voted, it owes equally to the way the talukas of Ponda, Mormugao and Quepem voted without which he would have been fighting a losing cause. Picture this: The total number of votes the Congress won in Salcete is 112,605 whereas the BJP won 150,538 votes in the other six talukas combined. Were the contest to be a straight fight of Salcete versus the rest, the Congress would have ended up on the losing side. All it needed was an additional 15,000 votes from the six talukas combined -- a situation that is not too difficult to imagine-- would have meant the Congress would have lost the seat even if they were to sweep Salcete.  

While many argue that it was high time the BJP be given a reality check, it is important that we take the right lessons from this result and not get carried away by the euphoria. 

Despite the ‘loss of face’, the BJP managed to secure a ‘lead’ in 29 of Goa’s 40 constituencies -- enough to give them a massive majority were this to be a state election. While it is no doubt that the joint opposition increased its share of seats it won from seven to 11 that’s still a poor number at a time they claim there is massive anger against the ruling BJP. Much can and will change between now and state assembly elections but it’s one to keep an eye on going forward. 

It’s all in a name 

Here’s a tidbit of Goa’s new MP, you probably hadn’t heard of before: He has been named after legendary Lusitanian warrior Viriathus, spelt Viriato in Portugal and Spain, known for his battles of resistance against the expanding Roman empire that he fought until he was betrayed and killed in his sleep at the age 41. Here’s a brief video about his rise and fall if you’re interested:

Monsoon arrives in Goa

In other news, the monsoon officially arrived in Goa on June 4, a piece of news that was lost on the inside pages of the newspapers given everything else that was happening. Ironically, the day the monsoon was officially declared was a pretty sunny day, but the rains have picked up since then and are expected to continue at least till June 11 before the next expected break.  

Calangute’s barricade bluff

Earlier this week you may have read the news that Calangute announced plans to ban the entry of tourists without hotel reservation. The plans seem shallow at best and with no way to ensure their implementation, we can safely consign these to the category of “dead on arrival” as they are unlikely to take off the ground.