Panaji, Feb 2 : As Goa transitions from the pleasant comforts of the mild winter sun into harsher tropical weather, the coastal state's political clime also appears to be following suit, with the state headed for crucial assembly elections on February 4.
As campaigning for the elections ended on Thursday, the mood of the state appears complex and difficult to comprehend considering a multi-corner battle between representatives of four national parties, six regional parties and heavy-weight Independent candidates. In all 251 candidates are vying for the 40 seats up for grabs on Saturday.
While the ruling BJP is contesting in 36 seats and supporting two Independent candidates, the Congress has fielded 37 candidates, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 39 and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) 18. Former allies of the BJP, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), former RSS leader Subhash Velingkar-mentored Goa Suraksha Manch and the Shiv Sena (SS) have fielded 26, five, and three candidates respectively as part of a 'Mahagatabandhan'.
While all major players have expressed confidence of winning a majority in the upcoming polls, leaders of nearly all the parties confirm off record that the state could be heading for a hung assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress emerging with bigger chunk of votes.
"That is one of the reasons why there have been no bitter and serious allegations levelled against each other, because in a chaotic post-poll scenario, one doesn't know who will need support from which party or individual," a senior BJP leader told IANS on condition of anonymity.
The BJP officially claims that the party will win 26 seats, five more than their last tally, but Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday set the bar higher for his party workers and voters.
"We are aiming and confident of winning a two-thirds majority. We are confident the work done by our government in Goa will help us get that number," the former Goa Chief Minister told a press conference on Thursday.
The BJP has promised to wipe out unemployment among youth in its election manifesto.
Some of the key issues which have been discussed in course of the campaign by various political parties includes corruption by the BJP government, scandals of former Congress ministers named in several multi-crore scams, AAP's choice of candidates and its 'non Goan' volunteers, the fissures between the BJP and the MGP, as well as the running feud between Velingkar and the state BJP leadership.
The AAP, which has promised to double existing government doles and reduce prices on a wide range of necessities ranging from fish to electricity tariff, has also claimed victory in 26 seats.
"Goans will sweep away the Congress and the BJP with a broom on February 4. We have had enough of corrupt and divisive politics by them," said Elvis Gomes, a former bureaucrat and AAP's chief ministerial candidate.
The Congress, which was reduced to an unprecedented nine assembly seats in the 2012 polls, expects to come to power a majority without any allies.
"The corruption of the Goa BJP and their misgovernance has shown the people of Goa that only the Congress can deliver inclusive and effective governance," Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh told IANS on Thursday.
The three-party alliance between the MGP, GVM and SS, which is targeting the majority Hindu vote, is also being watched keenly, because its collective performance could determine the winning chances of the BJP, which also benefitted from the consolidation of the majority vote-bank in the last polls.
Also while the Shiv Sena and the Manch have gone on record saying they would not ally with the BJP in a post-poll hung assembly scenario, the MGP has kept its options open.
"The MGP will work towards providing Goa a stable government," says the alliance's chief ministerial candidate Sudin Dhavalikar.
Velingkar, who has sacked from the RSS following ideological differences with the Goa BJP and Parrikar, has however vowed not to align with the saffron party.
"We will never ally with people who have betrayed Goa and its culture," Velingkar said.
Nearly 11.08 lakh voters are eligible to cast ballot in the February 4 polls in 1,649 polling booths across the state.
(Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be reached at mayabhushan@gmail.com)
