------------------------------------------------------- CONVENTION OF THE GOAN DIASPORA FROM GOA INTO THE WORLD Lisbon, Portugal June 15-17, 2007 Details at: http://www.goacom.org/casa-de-goa/noticias.html -------------------------------------------------------
THREE-WAY TUG-OF-WAR IN BICHOLIM CONSTITUENCY By Samir Umarye [EMAIL PROTECTED] BICHOLIM (Goa): The Bicholim constituency will witness a tug-of-war between the candidates of three major political parties, even as the sitting BJP MLA will have to bear the heat of the newly emerged congress candidate for the forthcoming assembly elections. BJP MLA, Rajesh Patnekar will have a straight fight with the congress candidate Naresh Sawal and the MGP President, Pandurang Raut. Eventhough Patnekar is yet to realise the danger posed to his political career the Congress has made its roots stronger in some of the villages of Bicholim taluka. "We will retain the same margin of about 2500 votes and win the election," Patnekar claims, probably failing to judge the present sitution. It may be recalled that Rajesh Patnekar, then seen as a young, dynamic politician, made his presence felt in the constituency wayback in 1999 elections when he was defeated by the MGP candidate by a meer 90 votes. Undetered by the failure, he contested the next election and was voted to power with a thumping majority. During the last elections, there was a straight fight between BJP and MGP as the candidate given by the Congress was not able to poll more than one thousand votes. But, this time all is not well for Patnekar as the Congress candidate has made its presence felt in the taluka. Besides, the MGP lion is making a despirate bid to roar again. MAJOR PROJECTS: Patnekar's regime saw the completion of some of the major project in the area. "The muncipal building is a major project and was completed in a time-bound manner," Patnekar told Herald adding "the long pending demand of the de-silting of the the nullaha near the river is fulfilled which will reduce the possibility of floods in the taluka." [Bicholim is located close to the mining belt of interior, eastern Goa, an area which has faced flooding along with nearby Sanquelim in the region in the recent past.] Besides this in several villages development has been carried out in form of building of roads, halls and crematoriam. Some of the remote villages were also supplied with proper drinking water through taps. But, Patnekar was not able to fulfill the demands of the unemployed youths, a factor which could administer a major jolt for any candidate in the constituency. Besides some of the other major projects including the Ravindra Bhawan (cultural complex) and the sports complex failed to see the light of the day as yet. The Ravindra Bhawan -- a project for the art lovers -- was initially senctioned at the housing board area and the land acqusition process was underway at the same time when Patnekar was voted to power; but not much momentam was seen in this direction during the BJP regime. Later, during the Congress tenure the project was shifted to Sanquelim and even a foundation stone was laid in the area by the chief minister. "We got only a very short time for fulfilling the demands of all the unemployed youths due to our short tenure and we regret for the same," Patnekar accepts, adding "the modification in the rules of the required amount of land for the Ravindra Bhawan and its unavailability at the housing board led to its delay." Voters and supporters are also suspecious about his prospects of Patnekar in the BJP wing if elected to power as the grapevine believes the BJP higher-ups neglect Patnekar due to his happy go lucky behaviour. "A cabinet berth has been publicly assured to me by the party leaders if voted to power," Patnekar however argues. The serious threat to Patnekar will come from the Congress candidate, Naresh Sawal who has raised his profile rapidly and successfully tried to fill in the popularity-gap faced by the Congress in the constituency. This is evident from the recently held panchayat elections, in which Congress was able to hold seize hold of two of the five panchayats in the taluka. The youth in Bicholim seem to have been attracted towards Sawal due to his ideas. "We want that the youths should get opportunities to come forward and try themselves in new fields and they should also get exposure to new ideas", Sawal stressed when speaking to Herald, adding that "BJP failed in every front whether it be jobs or any other area. Patnekar was not even able to make use of the government benefits for the constituency and so the people have come to us." "Our priority will be to set up at least two to three industrial estates in the constituency and we are sure to win by a margin of at least three thousand votes," Sawal claimed. "We have already helped about 150 unemployed youths by giving them jobs which the MLA was not able to provide even being in power." Sawal in his agenda has stressed upon the ugradation of primary health centre hospital, sports complex, sewage treatment plant, Ravindra Bhawan and the overall beautification of the taluka besides solving of the unemployment problem. MGP president Pandurang Raut eventhough is still silent even after filing his nomination. But it is expected he will also make his presence felt in the constituency; being a seasoned politician he knows the taluka and the people well. Inspite of all this, the plus point that Patnekar is having, which makes him different from the other candidates, is his down-to-earth behaviour and contacts at the village level. "We will vote for Patnekar even if he contest as an independent candidate," a villager commented, on conditions of anonymity. (***) ------------------------------------------------------- Goanet recommends, and is proud to be associated with, 'Domnic's Goa' - A nostalgic romp through a bygone era. This book is the perfect gift for any Goan, or anyone wanting to understand Goa. Distributed locally by Broadway, near Caculo Island, Panjim & internationally by OtherIndiaBookStore.Com. For trade enquiries contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------