Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: Though the Revolutionary Goans Party machine did not fare well in Salcete, a Congress stronghold, it did make significant gains in the hinterland talukas, which ultimately hurt BJP candidate Pallavi Dempo’s lead in the polls.
Rubert Pereira, the RGP candidate, concluded his Lok Sabha campaign with 18,885 votes, placing him third overall.
In contrast to the 2022 Assembly polls, where the RGP upset the Congress establishment by gaining significant ground in Salcete, the regional party performed poorly in the minority-dominated taluka during the Lok Sabha elections.
Just two years after the party’s spectacular debut in the taluka, RGP managed to secure only about 4,536 votes in Salcete out of the 18,885 votes cast by Pereira. This suggests that the regional party was unable to make any headway in the areas inhabited by minority groups.
In Salcete taluka, the Arvind Kejriwal party received 13,000 votes, while the Aam Aadmi Party received about 21,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A quick look at the final vote total reveals that in all eight of Salcete’s Assembly segments, the RGP was unable to surpass the four-digit threshold.
Not only that, but the party receiving the greatest number of votes in Nuvem—roughly 813—could see the RGP surpass the 500-vote threshold only in the three segments of Curtorim, Cuncolim, and Nuvem.
Rubert Pereira could hardly muster 790 votes this time, even in his home segment of Curtorim, where he had garnered notable support in the 2022 Assembly election.
However, the regional party might have brought an end to its campaign by causing some damage in the MGP-BJP strongholds in the hinterland talukas, particularly in the areas surrounding Madkai, Ponda, Shiroda, Sanvordem, Sanguem, Canacona, and the Quepem segment, which is represented by the Congress.
