Team Goemkarponn
ALONDA: Aldona Congress MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira on Monday congratulated Congress candidates Maria Menezes and Nilesh Kambli on their victories in the Aldona and Sirsaim Zilla Panchayat constituencies respectively, while expressing concern over the division of opposition votes that, he said, benefitted the BJP across Goa.
Maria Menezes emerged victorious from the Aldona ZP constituency with a margin of 274 votes, unseating the BJP which had held the seat until now. Adv Carlos described the win as “especially sweet” as it marked the defeat of the ruling party in his home constituency.
He also congratulated Nilesh Kambli, who won the Sirsaim ZP seat, a constituency represented in the Assembly by BJP MLA and minister Nilkanth Halarnkar. Two villages of the Aldona Assembly constituency — Nachinola and Moira — fall under the Sirsaim ZP segment.
“You have to remember that in our constituency, it was a BJP seat. We unseated the BJP. There was a personal campaign carried out against me. Besides, there were other players in the fray who took the opposition’s vote. Despite all this, we have secured a victory,” Adv Carlos said.
However, the Congress MLA lamented the split in opposition votes, which he said resulted in the BJP’s overall success in the Zilla Panchayat elections.
“Did the BJP win on its own? The BJP has mastered the art of dividing votes and then expecting victory. Across Goa, you can see that because of divisions, they have won several seats by narrow margins,” he said.
Adv Carlos added that while BJP victories with large margins should be acknowledged as decisive, many other wins were the result of fragmented opposition votes.
“If you add up the opposition votes, they would have lost. If you see Calangute and several other seats, it is the split in opposition votes that has given victory to the BJP,” he remarked.
He further said that voters had taught a lesson to “another national party” that chose to contest independently, claiming it was “completely sunk” by the election results.
—
Alternate headline options:
Congress Retains Aldona, Wins Sirsaim as Adv Carlos Flags Opposition Vote Split
Adv Carlos Welcomes Congress ZP Wins, Says BJP Benefitted From Divided Opposition
Aldona, Sirsaim ZP Victories Heartening, But Vote Split Helped BJP: Adv Carlos
