The voters have punished some important leaders and rewarded others. Luizinho Faleiro, in the running for chief minister, has lost. As has Francisco Sardinha who was the outgoing speaker. Surprisingly, Willie D’Souza, the leader of the NCP, also lost even though he has been able to get his party three seats through effective bargaining. The NCP party leadership is thus up for grabs. Churchill Alemao, who left the Congress and formed the Save Goa Party, and also Babush Monseratte who joined the UGDP — both of whom did so on the eve of the elections — won although their own bargaining power has been considerably reduced. Perhaps this should be seen as a pyrrhic victory for them and if the Congress has the courage to make them pay for their disloyalty it should, once and for all, bury the politics of sheer arrogance that these persons represent.

Ravi Naik has won and perhaps has the best chance of being chief minister, although Dayanand Narvenkar will also make a pitch since he is on the Cricket Board and thus may get the backing of Sharad Pawar and his three NCP MLAs. The MGP has got two seats and would be the natural ally of the Congress; together they could reach the magic figure of 21 seats to form the government.

Two independents have won. The son of the outgoing chief minister won as an independent, having contested against the official Congress candidate. The significant defeat of Mathany Saldanha, who made his reputation as a movement person leading the traditional fishermens’ struggle in the ‘70s, shows that the voters strongly disapproved of his co-habiting with the BJP and turning his back on the struggle. The defeat of Babush Monseratte’s wife in Santa Cruz also shows the limits of money power.

... contd.