In Goa, Amit Shah goes door to door

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, February 9

With just four days to go before Goa votes on February 14, BJP’s top campaigner Home Minister Amit Shah was in the beach state today, holding public rallies and door-to-door meetings across various constituencies.

Shah also campaigned in Sankhalim, from where BJP CM Pramod Sawant is contesting, resulting in Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar taking a jibe at the BJP. Chodankar said, “Sawant knows he is going to lose from Sankhalim and that is why the BJP requested Shah to campaign in his favour.” State BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade hit back, saying “people are aware that the Congress is going to be defeated”.

Though predicting a win for his party, Chodankar was quoted as saying 80 per cent of Congress candidates are new (since most of the sitting MLAs had jumped ship to the BJP). He also expressed confidence about forming a government with a clear majority in alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP).

Predicting a tough fight in the small state where a minor shift in votes can change the outcome, observers say the BJP is hoping that the Aam Aadmi Party and the newbie on the Goa political scene, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), will eat into the Congress votes, making the situation easier for itself.

“In a state like Goa, a couple of hundred seats can turn the tables. Any shift of votes away from the Congress will only help the BJP,” said BJP leaders.