MARGAO
Put on the back foot over the killing of two tribal youth, Dilip Velip and Manguesh Gaonkar, in the historic 2011 UTAA Balli agitation during the Congress regime, the main opposition party seemed to have either made no serious attempt to recover the lost ground in the ST-dominated areas, or has been found wanting in grooming ST leadership, especially in South Goa.
No doubt, the victory of Congress candidate Alton D’Costa in Quepem against Congress turncoat Chandrakant Kavlekar in the 2022 Assembly election, with the support of tribal communities, had indeed given a ray of hope for the main opposition party to win back the tribals to the party fold.
With the Scheduled Tribes vote pegged at over 70,000 voters, spread across South Goa, political observers underscore the need for the Congress to give the much-needed ST push by capitalising on the victory of South Goa MP Capt. Viriato Fernandes to keep the party in good stead in the coming elections, starting with the Zilla Panchayat polls in November 2025, followed by the 2027 Assembly election.
Incidentally, unlike the ruling party, which has in its ranks ST leaders such as Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, Minister Govind Gawde, MLA Ganesh Gaonkar, besides UTAA Chief Prakash Velip, former MLA Meng Gaonkar, the Congress may realise it has no ST leader worth its name in the party, with the party failing to groom ST leaders over the years.
A senior ST leader said the Congress had never made serious efforts or moves over the years to win back the ST communities on its side. “With the Congress winning Quepem in 2022 and resentment surfacing in the ST community over the long-delayed political reservations, as was evident in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election, it is indeed time for the Congress to build on the Quepem victory to make inroads in the ST areas ahead of the coming polls,” he added.
