Political Pulse Of Goa Series : Indian National Congress
Congress: For a long time many had written off the Congress. The party saw its numbers fall from 17 at the time of the 2017 assembly elections to two by the time elections were announced in the state for February 2022.
At one point MGP supremo Sudin Dhavalikar was heard saying: “Congress ani urla khoim?” (Does the Congress even exist anymore.) That was the time loyal Congressman Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenço had quit the party and joined the TMC throwing up serious questions about the ability of the Congress to take on the BJP.
If that was the low point, the high point was when Michael Lobo formally announced that he was jumping to the Congress along with his wife and aides who were given tickets to several constituencies in Bardez.
Suddenly it looked like the Congress was a force in itself and was a worthy challenger to the dominance of the BJP. The electoral battle suddenly looked like a battle between equals rather than a walk over the people were thinking it would be.
Now, with elections only a few days away the talk is that the once weakened party has a chance of forming the next government with alliance partners.
From 17 to two and back to 17 seems like a realistic possibility despite the party losing many of its winnable candidates to the BJP, the TMC and others. What explains the resilience of the Congress is still not fully understood but here is the party is a resurrected form giving a fight to the BJP despite all the defections it has suffered.
No doubt the party has made some missteps and has fielded weak candidates in some constituencies amid allegations that tickets have been sold for crores of Rupees.
Will that, alongside the widespread belief that certain leaders have joined the Congress only to switch back to the BJP, puncture the Congress return to power. All eyes on counting day.
