NT Reporter Margao
The Congress-GFP alliance paid rich dividends in Salcete taluka, winning eight of the nine zilla panchayat seats, thus defeating BJP, RGP and AAP in the Catholic-dominated region.
The results showed that voters in Salcete largely rejected all 15 independent candidates, including former ZP chairpersons Nelly Rodrigues and Maria Rebello, despite Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other BJP leaders backing independents in six constituencies during the campaign.
The outcome reinforced Salcete’s reputation as a Congress stronghold, even though the party performed poorly in other
parts of the state.
RGP, which fielded five candidates in Catholic-dominated constituencies of Raia, Navelim, Nuvem, Colva and Velim—failed to win a single seat in Salcete. AAP, which had a sitting ZP member from Benaulim, managed to win only Colva by a margin of 73 votes, despite contesting eight seats and deploying national leaders, including former chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi Marlena, for campaigning in Velim and Betalbatim.
BJP suffered significant losses, losing not only its Davorlim seat but also Navelim and Guirdolim, where the party had expected strong performances.
In Davorlim, the absence of RGP and AAP candidates enabled Congress candidate Floriano (Danny) Fernandes to face BJP candidate Satyavijay Naik in a direct contest. A last-minute GFP endorsement for the Congress candidate blunted BJP campaigning efforts, including those by minister Digambar Kamat.
In Guirdolim, Yuri Alemao’s engagement with Sanjay Velip, spouse of former South Goa BJP chairperson Sanjana Velip, proved decisive. Sanjay won by 2,306 votes despite Chief Minister Sawant campaigning for the BJP candidate.
In Curtorim, first-time Congress candidate Astra Da Silva won with 5,097 votes, defeating the AAP candidate and three independents—Vivek Naik, Satish Shet and Edison Cardozo. The professed neutrality of MLA AleIxo Reginaldo Lourenco did not significantly influence the outcome.
In Colva, AAP candidate Antonio Fernandes polled 3,214 votes, while Independent candidate Nelly Rodrigues secured 3,141 votes. The RGP candidate received 932 votes.
In Raia constituency, GFP candidate Inaciana Pinto defeated sitting ZP member Fatima Gaonkar, along with AAP and RGP candidates. The last-minute change in reservation by the State Election Commission had minimal impact.
Some defeated candidates raised concerns, with Fatima Gaonkar alleging money inducements and Satyavijay Naik claiming internal party jealousy affected his prospects.
