PANAJI: The Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) move to induct former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro in the party at an event in West Bengal capital Kolkata marks the first step by the Mamata Banerjee-led party to make another attempt to gain a toehold in the tiny western Indian state known for its gorgeous beaches.
“My main mission is to defeat the BJP,” Faleiro declared in Kolkata. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, will not have to face the first impact of the TMC’s entry. That will be the Congress, as Faleiro tries to carve out a space for the TMC among voters unhappy with the BJP regime in the state.
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already declared the party will make a bid for power in Goa in early 2022 and has been on a roll. On a visit to Goa earlier this month, Kejriwal went beyond the free power and water promises and pledged to ensure that 80 per cent of jobs, including those in the private sector, will be reserved for local residents if the AAP comes to power.
In this context, political analysts are sceptical about what kind of an impact a new wrestler in Goa’s crowded political ring would have, especially when the effort has been made just about five months before the state votes for a new government in January or early February 2022.
{{/usCountry}}In this context, political analysts are sceptical about what kind of an impact a new wrestler in Goa’s crowded political ring would have, especially when the effort has been made just about five months before the state votes for a new government in January or early February 2022.
{{/usCountry}}“The impact will depend on how many others Faleiro can attract to the TMC. At the moment, besides himself, no one of political significance has joined him,” Cleofato Almeida Coutinho, a political analyst said.
Goa’s political space is largely divided along cultural lines. The Congress and the like-minded parties have traditionally wielded influence in parts of Goa referred to as the old conquests -- Bardez, Tiswadi, Mormugao and Salcete talukas -- territories that were first captured by the Portuguese. Since these are coastal areas and are comparatively more densely populated, these areas, which account for a larger share of Goa’s 40 constituencies, also have a greater share of minority Catholic voters.
The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which largely expanded in Goa at the expense of the MGP, have traditionally been strong in areas known as new conquests -- these were captured by the Portuguese only in the 1700s. According to historians, these areas, unlike the old Conquistas, remained predominantly Hindu because by then the Portuguese rulers had no appetite for conversions.
To be sure, the BJP’s move to induct 13 Congressmen over the course of the last four and a half years has disturbed some of these patterns and people in constituencies traditionally represented by the Congress are split between the sitting MLA who has joined the BJP, the Congress who identified replacements of their MLAs who switched sides, and the Aam Aadmi Party which has so far been largely restricted to minority-dominated areas. The Trinamool Congress’ entry could add to this competition.
For now, the Congress is downplaying the impact that Faleiro’s exit or a ‘new entrant’ such the TMC will have,
“It is actually a blessing that he has left. Because now all those who were being blocked by Faleiro will now have the space to grow in the party,” Congress president Girish Chodankar said.
It is also being pointed out that Faleiro had a combined tenure of just about nine months back in his two stints as chief minister in 1998 and 1999. Faleiro has represented the Catholic-dominated Navelim constituency, and his area of influence is largely restricted to Salcete, a largely minority-dominated taluka.
“The Congress is present in every village of Goa. We did not emerge yesterday. Our ideology is the ideology of the people of Goa. Goa and the Congress cannot be separated. There are many who are coming to Goa. Today the TMC wants to re-enter the state. They will suffer the same fate (as of their previous attempt). Those who joined them will be dumped and they will go back. Trinamool means one that rises from the ground. Here the party is being imposed from the top,” said Chodankar said.
“They (TMC) are saying that they are here to defeat the BJP. If they are here to defeat BJP, why are they coming just three months before without doing any work for Goans,” he asked.
The Trinamool Congress first entered Goa in 2012. Then too, like they are now, they were heralded into Goa by a former chief minister who was in the twilight of his political career, Dr Wilfred de Souza. The party didn’t win a single seat.
Besides the AAP and TMC, the Congress also has to contend with Goencho Avaz, a network of environmental activists, and the Revolutionary Goans, a group of young activists and mining-affected workers who have also decided to put up their own candidates.
In Goa’s 40-member house, the BJP currently holds a commanding majority of 27 seats. The Congress is reduced to four, while the Goa Forward Party has three and the MGP, NCP have one each besides three independents.