------------------------------------------------------- CONVENTION OF THE GOAN DIASPORA FROM GOA INTO THE WORLD Lisbon, Portugal June 15-17, 2007 Details at: http://www.goacom.org/casa-de-goa/noticias.html -------------------------------------------------------
Goa's top leaders, on both sides, bit the dust in poll results FN PANAJI (Goa), June 5: Some of Goa's top leaders bit the dust in the June 2007 elections, results of which were declared here today. Big names were humbled, leading analysts scrambling for explanations in a state where margins can be thin and electoral motivations, complex and often defying the logic of party labels and anti-incumbency votes. Goa's election results came on Tuesday morning (Ed: June 5, 2007) giving the Congress/NCP 19 seats, BJP 14, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party 2, Save Goa Front 2, United Goans Democratic Party 1, and independents 2 by the time final results were out for the 40-seat assembly. Former three-time Congress CM Dr Wilfred de Souza (NCP), ex-Speaker Francisco Sardinha (Cong), six-term MLA Luizinho Faleiro (Cong), party spokesperson Jitendra Deshprabhu (Cong), long-time Opposition leader Ramakant Khalap (Cong), ex-ministers Harish Zantye, Subhash Shirodkar and Sanjay Bandekar were some of the bigtime losers on the Congress-NCP side. Party-hopper Isidore Fernandes (Cong) also lost his seat. For the BJP, prominent losers include ex-minister Ramrao Desai, ex-speaker Vishwas Satarkar, party leaders Rajendra Arlekar and Suresh Amonkar (BJP), ex-minister and a Goa scheduled tribes leader Prakash Velip (BJP). BJP's projected chief minister candidate Manohar Parrikar fought back well, and won Panaji for the fourth successive term by 1444 votes. Also among losers were the BJP-backed environmental campaigner Matanhy Saldanha (UGDP). MGP leader Pandurang Raut also lost. Dr Wilfred de Souza, the strong-man of the Nationalist Congress Party in Goa, who has been dominating the Saligao constituency (earlier part of Calangute) since the 1980 election, was perhaps the biggest surprise defeat. Souza long held on to the marginal Saligao constituency, in the northern part of coastal Goa, by a shrewd set of engineering candidates who could split the other party's vote. But this time, inspite of being the NCP candidate backed by the Congress, he lost the seat that was considered his pocket-borough. Obviously, a whole lot of regional and local factors played a role in defeating the big names. If Souza was seen as taking his constituency for granted, Sardinha (who also entered the assembly for the first time in 1980 with Souza) was this time seen as being overconfident days before the election. Jitendra Deshprabhu, whose family has a viscount's title granted by the Portuguese, is a landlord in an area where the Congress has limited support, and his earlier victory there was itself seen as surprising. Religion and caste factors play a role in deciding results, and dented some big players' chances in a Goa which otherwise lives mostly amicably but gets polarised during election-time. BJP leaders were clearly disappointed by the results early on in the day, and towards the ending. Somewhere in the middle, their hopes got buoyed by a swing of seats in favour of their party. Some pointed to the centralised nature of the BJP leadership, and its lack of sufficient local leaders as being responsible for its poor showing. But, at the same time, the BJPs growth in Goa has been most phenomenal when it paralleled the rise of that party in New Delhi. While the fallen leaders spend time to lick their wounds, the question before all now is whether their news replacements will be more citizen-friendly in a state where politicos have come to be known as selfish, arrogant, and ready to hop-parties at the drop of a hat. ENDS ------------------------------------------------------- Goanet recommends, and is proud to be associated with, 'Domnic's Goa' - A nostalgic romp through a bygone era. This book is the perfect gift for any Goan, or anyone wanting to understand Goa. Distributed locally by Broadway, near Caculo Island, Panjim & internationally by OtherIndiaBookStore.Com. For trade enquiries contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------