Calangute MLA Michael Lobo
Gomantak Times
Former ports minister Michael Lobo, who switched allegiance from BJP to Congress just a month ahead of the election, played a key role in saving the grace for Congress in Bardez Taluka where the party was able to win four seats out of seven assembly constituencies.
Congress won 11 seats in the final tally. Four seats out of 11 came from Bardez taluka which helped the party in reaching the double digits.
In the 2017 assembly elections, Congress had won just one of the seven constituencies in Bardez taluka. However, the scales tilted in the favour of Congress this time around mainly due to the entry of North Goa heavyweight Michael Lobo into Congress and his 'Together For Bardez' campaigned that managed to upset BJP's poll calculation in Bardez.
Congress emerged victorious in Aldona, Siolim, Calangute and Saligao constituencies while BJP had to settle with Thivim, Mapusa and Porvorim.
In Saligao, Congress's Kedar Naik managed to unseat Jayesh Salgaonkar with a nearly 1800 vote margin. Kedar Naik's personal image as well as Michael Lobo's strong push for Congress candidate, who also heavily campaigned for the grand old party here worked in the favour of Congress. BJP opting for Jayesh salgaonkar, who switched over from Goa Forward Party, as its candidates and rejecting the party ticket to Dilip Parulekar did not go down well with the BJP workers.
Siolim has never elected a Congress MLA with MGP and BJP being the dominant parties till 2017 when GFP managed to win. However, Michael Lobo ensured his wife, Delilah Lobo, victory on Congress ticket. Although BJP got a good per cent of the vote in the three panchayats namely Oshel, Marna-Gude and Sadye, Lobo took a lead in Anjuna- Kayasuv, Assagao-Baden and Verla-Kanka panchayats.
In Calangute, Lobo scored a rare hat-trick, defeating BJP's Joseph Robert Sequeira, a former Congress leader, by a margin of 4,979 votes, Lobo’s popularity was reflected in that his vote share was the highest ever by any candidate from Calangute.
In the Aldona constituency, Congress's Carlos Alvares Ferreira defeated two-time BJP MLA Glenn Ticlo by a margin of 1,500 votes. While the Lobo factor did not work out here well here, people's confidence in Congress, as well as the right candidate selection along with anti-incumbency against the sitting MLA, worked in Congress's favour.