The taluka of Tiswadi is difficult to encapsulate — which is a surprise considering that it is literally an island surrounded on all sides by water referred to by the Portuguese colonialists as Ilha de Goa and later Ilha de Tissuari to refer to the 30-odd hamlets that make up the taluka.
Owing to extensive marshlands, the taluka has had to play second fiddle to traditional commercial powerhouses like Mapusa and Margao after the decline of the once flourishing port that was Old Goa. But with the advent of tourism, the reimagining of Panjim as a quaint tourist town and the influx of new settlers in villages like Santa Cruz and Taleigao owing to the proximity to the capital city, where the jobs were available the taluka has undergone a transformation.
The taluka consists of five constituencies — Panaji, Taleigao, Santa Cruz, Cumbharjua and San André. For nearly 25 years Panaji has been represented by the BJP’s Manohar Parrikar. It was only after his death that the Congress managed to win the seat when Atanasio Monserrate, then on a Congress ticket defeated the BJP’s Siddharth Kuncaliencar making it the first time since 1994 when Manohar Parrikar won the seat owing to a split between the Congress official candidate Keshav Prabhu and Congress rebel Surendra Furtado.
Panaji has always remained in the shadow of Taleigao ever since Atanasio “Babush” Monserrate has wielded influence over the constituency first via his ‘panels’ in the CCP and ultimately winning the seat in 2019.
Now with Monserrate in the BJP, and looking like he will stick with the BJP (although there is no guarantee that such a situation will continue the way it is until the polls) the equations in the constituency have been thrown haywire.
On one hand, Monserrate has told the BJP leadership that he will be able to win all the five seats for the party. A bold claim even by a leader who has the ability to consistently win elections for him and his wife.
Will the people of Santa Cruz, traditionally a Congress constituency, vote for a BJP candidate just because he or she is backed by Monserrate? Will the people of Panjim, more so the BJP voters of Panjim vote for Monserrate or his candidate if they stand on a BJP ticket?
Things have got even more complicated with former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal, staking claim for the ticket for Panaji constituency claiming to have the backing of his father’s supporters.
With the BJP in its present avatar made up of Congress leaders on one hand, but an increasingly hardline hindutva face on the other, the party could see on one hand its core voter base split between the candidate and the ideology which do not appeal to reconcile with each other.
The contrast is most visible in the Tiswadi constituency which makes it an interesting constituency to watch as the elections get nearer.
By Andrea Fernandes
