BackMeet Luizinho Faleiro, the man who may have saved Congress in Goa
The close contest between Congress and BJP in Goa elections should comes as a vindication for Luizinho Faleiro, who was tasked to revive Congress in the state
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Bengaluru: Congress has reasons to cheer in Goa. Post noon election trends and results from Goa show Congress leading over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Moreover, Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar has suffered a crushing loss by around 3,500 votes. Faleiro, who is contesting from Navelim constituency, is leading over independent candidate Avertano Furtado, the latest trends suggest.
This should have comes as a vindication for Luizinho Faleiro, who took over as Congress president in Goa two years ago with his task cut to bring the party back to power.
Even winning India’s tiniest state has been a big deal for the Congress to be effective in the 2017 assembly elections to five states, and therein lied the importance of Faleiro.
Goa election results 2017: Live updates
Flooded with internal bickering, growth remained a challenge for the Congress in Goa even with an apparent anti-incumbency wave against the BJP. It may be a story that gets repeated for the Congress in state after state, but given the shrinking presence of the Congress from India’s electoral map, Goa polls were taken seriously by the national leadership, something which was evident with the months-long close monitoring of the poll campaign by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
In the run-up to the election, Faleiro, a former CM of Goa, although for a brief 168 days, tried to put up a united face for the party despite internal bickering. Congress also saw some change of guard during this period and led a more focused attack against the BJP over what it sees as U-turns in promises made by the state government. Even in giving tickets, the party purposefully tried to keep a mix of new and old faces, which is an attempt to steer clear of its corrupt image and to woo young voters.
Election Results 2017: Live updates
The Congress has assured to get Goa a special status, ban casinos, provide free five litres of petrol to students and review state-run investment promotion board, among other things.
Consequently, Goa was one among the only two states, the other is Punjab, where political analysts expected some chances for the Congress to come to power on its own in the present polls to five states. In its 40 assembly seats, three out of the four major exit polls predicted on Thursday the Congress is in a tight contest with incumbent but popular BJP.
However, it is little secret that the party is still marred with infighting. And in case of a win, the party is expected to implode with at least three top leaders seeking the chair of Goa chief minister.
Congress did not announce any chief ministerial face during the campaign and three top leaders and former chief ministers—Pratapsinh Rane, Digambar Kamat and Faleiro himself—are in the fray for contest.
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