Panaji:
Was it just a great day to be out, or was Goa sending out a message to its political leaders when a record 82.8 per cent voters turned out to vote this weekend? Interpretations differ.
The ruling Congress-NCP combine believes this was Goa's way of saying thank you. "There is no doubt in my mind that this is our mandate. The Congress-NCP's good governance and positive campaign has worked in our favour. The people have come out in a huge number against the BJP's negative campaign," Congress working president Francisco Sardinha said on Monday.
The Congress is contesting 33 seats, while the NCP has fielded candidates in seven.
The BJP would rather apply conventional wisdom that says a big voter turnout usually means a vote for change. "You just wait and watch on Tuesday. Do you need a bigger indictment of a government than a total rejection by more than 80 percent of the population?" BJP general secretary Govind Parvatkar said. The BJP contested the elections with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) as an alliance partner.
Independents and smaller players hope that they will play kingmaker. Five years ago, Goa had given a fractured verdict with no one party managing a simple majority. The Congress won 16 seats and its pre-poll ally the NCP won 3; they were still two shy. They were short of the simple majority of 21 seats. It managed to get the numbers with the support of two
Independents and the MGP, which had won two seats. In 2007, the BJP won 14 seats.
Mickky Pacheco, whose wife Viola is the president of the Goa Vikas party (GVP) says, "The next government will be formed with the help of regional parties."
And Independent candidates like Avertano Furtado say they could decide the course of government formation if things come to a crunch. Mr Furtado, who is taking on heavyweight public works department (PWD) minister Churchill Alemao said that with 74 independent candidates in the fray, several of whom are rebels rejected by national parties, the pendulum could swing any way. "Be prepared for a surprise. A few independents could hold the key I think because people are frustrated with all the national parties which have led Goa nowhere," he said.
They shall all know in a few hours. Results for the 40 Goa Assembly seats are expected to be in within two hours of the start of counting. Poll officials said on Monday morning that counting at the two counting centres would begin either at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. tomorrow.
"The district returning officer at the counting centre in Panaji will monitor the results for 23 seats in north Goa. The South Goa district returning officer will monitor the other 17 seats in Margao," joint chief electoral officer N.S. Navti said.