Stage set for polls in Punjab, Goa

BJP is in government in Punjab in alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for two successive terms, while it also helms Goa, despite ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party having drifted away just after the announcement of elections to form a three-party combine. 

In Punjab, 1.98 crore electors are eligible to vote to choose from among 1,145 candidates to elect a 117-member assembly, while 11 lakh voters will decide the fate of 250 nominees for the 40 seats in the tiny coastal state of Goa. In Punjab, where SADBJP alliance has been in power for the past decade, today’s polling will decide the fate of a number of political bigwigs, including 89-year-old Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, seeking a sixth term in office, his old political rival and Congress’ CM face Amarinder Singh, who has declared it will be his last election, and Badal’s son and deputy Sukhbir. 

Badar Sr. is locked in a keen battle with Amarinder for the Lambi seat, the pocket borough of the Badals. Amarinder, the scion of Patiala royal family, is also in the fray from his home town where ready to give him a run for his money is the former army chief JJ Singh of SAD. 

Navjot Singh Sidhu, the voluble cricketer-turned-politician, who quit BJP to join Congress just ahead of the polls, is trying his luck from Amritsar East seat, part of his former parliamentary constituency Amritsar. 

Voting will also take place today for Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, which fell vacant after state Congress chief Amarinder Singh resigned to protest against the Supreme Court order on Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal. 

Goa, where chief ministership has been as fickle as the loyalties of its political leaders, Saturday’s voting will decide the fate among others of five former CM’s, besides incumbent Laxmikant Parsekar. While Ravi Naik, Digambar Kamat, Pratapsinh Rane and Luizinho Faleiro are in the fray as Congress nominees, Churchill Alemao is contesting on NCP ticket. 

Interestingly, in Goa, where the BJP is facing a rival in a rebel RSS leader, the party has not projected Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar as CM face and has often hinted at Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s return to the hot seat, apparently to cash in on his enduring popularity in the state. 

Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, BJP’s pre-poll ally in the last elections, has teamed up with rebel RSS leader Subhash Velingkar’s Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) and Shiv Sena.

In Punjab, Congress is contesting alone in all the 117 seats. Aam Aadmi Party has fielded its candidates in 112 seats, while its ally Lok Insaf Party, led by Ludhiana based Bains brothers, have fielded nominees in five seats. BJP, which is a junior ally in Punjab, is contesting only 23 seats, while SAD has fielded candidates in 94 seats. 

In Goa, BJP is contesting 36 seats and supporting four independents, while Congress has fielded its candidates in 38 seats and is supporting two others, including an independent. AAP nominees are in the fray in 39 seats after nomination of one of its candidates was rejected. The newly formed MGP-GSM-Shiv Sena alliance is contesting 28 of the state’s 40 seats.