by Joaquim Fernandes
Poinguinim May 20: Poinguinim � Goa�s 40th and last assembly constituency � limps towards its second forced by-election in less then eight months with a marked lack of enthusiasm. This is the last time assembly elections will be held for Poinguinim constituency as it will be merged with, and known as, the Canacona constituency from the assembly elections of 2007 till the next delimitation. The next delimitation will be done only after 2031.
The most interesting feature of the June 2 Poinguinim by-polls is can Mr Isidore Fernandes, who has won the last three elections here, each time under a different party ticket, and forced two by-elections on Poinguinim in less then eight months, still win for the fourth time in a row?
This time he is contesting as the Congress candidate and his image, is markedly larger than his two current opponents.
On the eve of the last by-polls of October 13, 2004, when Mr Fernandes contested on the Bharatiya Janata Party ticket, the Congress accused BJP loyalist, Mr Ramesh Tawadker of distributing 500-rupee notes among voters in favour of Mr Fernandes.
Mr Tawadkar, now contesting for the BJP himself, will fight tooth and nail to defeat Mr Fernandes. The third and last candidate in the fray is Mr Leao Monteiro, a businessman from Chiplem, Poinguinim.
The 14,614 voters in this rustic, heavily-forested and lowly-developed constituency at the southern-most tip of Goa, are spread over the four panchayat areas of Poinguinim (5,500), Loliem (4,700), Gaondongrim (2,800) and Cotigao (1500, all approximately).
The 7,438 male and the 7,176 female voters will vote at 22 polling booths to choose between the three candidates.
The Velips, numbering over 5,500, form the single-largest community in Poinguinim and are concentrated largely in the hilly areas of Gaodongrim and Cotigao.
The rough religion-wise breakup in Poinguinim shows about 11,500 Hindus, 3,300 Christians and about 10 Muslims.
The panchayat members of the two bigger panchayats of Poinguinim and Loliem are divided in their loyalty between the BJP and the Congress. But the sarpanchas of these two panchayats remain staunchly BJP. The panchayat members and voters in the other two areas of Cotigao and Gaodongrim are known to be also divided.
A theory is doing the rounds that many Velips, aware of the fact that this is the last election for Poinguinim as an assembly constituency, will want a member of their own community to represent them in the assembly. The BJP�s Mr Ramesh Tawadkar, is a Velip.
The biggest issue in Poinguinim after unemployment is water. Problems of acute water shortage haunt the constituency, right from Mashem to Gaondongrim. Roads are bad and electricity is poor. There are no industries here at all. Also, the virgin beaches of Galgibag-Talpona, and the rustic hilly charms of Gaondongrim-Cotigao remain unexplored for tourism.
There is also the long-held demand for the construction of two bridges at Talpona and Galgibag that will reduce travelling distance to Margao by 10 kilometres.
In the 1989 assembly elections, when the Poinguinim constituency was carved out of the main Canacona constituency, Mr Fernandes lost to then-Congress strongman, Mr Vasu Pai Gaonkar. In the 1994 elections, he lost again to Mr Jagdish Acharya of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. Mr Fernandes first tasted victory as an Independent in 1999 and repeated his victory on the Congress ticket in 2002.
In an unprecedented move on August 18, 2004, Mr Fernandes resigned from the legislature and from the Congress and forced a by-election in Poinguinim. After the 91st Constitutional Amendment came into force from January 7, 2004, banning political defection, Mr Fernandes was the first elected representative in India to vacate the seat to re-contest the elections on the BJP ticket. He did a hat trick in Poinguinim winning with 6,963 votes and defeating his Congress rival, Mr Jagdish Acharya by a margin of 2,495 votes.
Doing an about turn, Mr Fernandes, resigned from the BJP, along with Mr Atanasio Monserrate (Taleigao), Mr Pandurang Madkaikar (Cumbarjua) and Mr Francisco Pacheco (Benaulim), on January 29, 2005, and was formally re-inducted into the Congress on February 5.
On June 2, he attempts to pull it off in Poinguinim for the fourth consecutive time. The results will be out on June 5, 2005.
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