Congress leaders in Goa disappointed over cabinet exclusion

Congressmen in Goa were a disappointed lot, over the decision of the Congress party not to include any of the two Congress Members of Parliament in the Manmohan Singh cabinet.

The Congress leaders in Goa were keenly hoping that MR Francisco Sardinha who has been elected from the Mormugao Constituency to the  Lok Sabha for the third time and who has been a former Chief Minister and seen many Ministries in various Congress governments in the state of Goa besides being a good administrator, would get a berth in the Union cabinet which was expanded on Thursday.

Congressmen were therefore dejected that while other smaller states and Union territories were considered and accommodated in the Union cabinet, Goa was mysteriously kept out which many felt was unfair to Goa.

The exclusion of MPs from Goa in the Union cabinet denies the state any voice in New Delhi and many decisions concerning the state of Goa are taken without giving any Goan a say in the matter relating to the state and therefore many such decisions go against the state. For instance the burning issue relating to the diversion of water from Mhadei basin by Karnataka, the coastal regulation zone issue etc are not represented by anyone from Goa in this respect

Manmohan Singh installs "MS office " with 78 Ministers in cabinet

The week long Manmohan Singh government today completed the expansion of his Ministry by adding another 59 Ministers to his previous council of 19 thereby taking the tally to 78 ministers in his cabinet.

The news finally came in at 9.30 pm on Thursday when all the portfolios were out and it was eventually clear as to which Minister got what portfolio. Initially it as felt that the whole affair was on expected lines but then came in a few surprises. The former commerce Minister Mr Kamal Nath was moved to surface transport while a new commerce minister in Anand Sharma came in. Veerappa Moily as the law minister was also a surprise for many.

The tough balancing act with due consideration to regions, caste, political experience, political weight, religion, aptitude and merit had to be all taken into account before the exhaustive process of allocating the ministries was finally done. The government was also expecting efficiency from the new incumbents and as the Prime Minister noted that "business as usual' would not do.

No MP from Goa or UP could find a place in the cabinet either as a cabinet minister or as a minister of state.There are currently two congress MPs from Goa in the parliament with Mr Francisco Sardinha elected to the Lok sabha from Mormugao Constituency while Mr Shantaram Naik represents Goa in the Rajhya sabha. Other notable exclusions from the cabinet include the former KRD minister Mr Arjun Singh, Mr HR Bhardwaj, Jat veteran Mr Sisram Ola and outgoing Ministers Saifuddin Soz and Ashwini Kumar.

With 33 ministers of cabinet rank, seven Ministers of State( MoS) with independent charge and 38 MoS, there is hardly any more space for any more candidates as the council of ministers cannot cross 81 and therefore only 3 more can be accommodated.

The 78 ministers has 29 first timers and nine ex- Chief Ministers. the Nationalist Congress party's (NCP) Agatha Sangma is the youngest ever Minister at 28. She is the junior minister to CP Joshi who will also hold the additional charge of Panchayati Raj

The following is the exhaustive list of the ministers in the Manmohan Singh cabinet, with their portfolios

No	Name	Age	Portfolio
	Manmohan Singh	76	Prime Minister
1	A K Antony	68	Defence
2	S M Krishna	77	External Affairs
3	Ghulam Nabi Azad	60	Health
4	Vayalar ravi	71	Overseas Indian Affairs
5	Murli Deora	72	Petroleum
6	Ambika Soni	65	Information and Broadcasting
7	Anand Sharma	56	Commerce & Industry
8	G K Vasan	44	Shipping
9	Vilasrao Dehsmukh	64	Heavy Industries
10	M S Gill	72	Youth Affairs and Sports
11	Pranab Mukherjee	74	Finance
12	Mukul Wasnik	50	Social Justice
13	Sharad Pawar	69	Agriculture
14	Dayanidhi Maran	42	Textiles
15	P Chidambaram	64	Home Affairs
16	A Raja	47	Communications and IT
17	Mamata Banerjee	54	Railways
18	Sushilkumar Shinde	68	Power
19	M Veerappa Moily	69	Law
20	Mallikarjun Kharge	67	Labour
21	S Jaipal Reddy	67	Urban Development
22	Kamal Nath	63	Surface Transport
23	Meira Kumar	64	Water Resources
24	Kapil Sibal	61	Human Resources
25	Pawan K Bansal	60	Parliamentary Affairs
26	Kumari Selja	47	Housing, Tourism
27	B K Handique	75	Mines, NE Development
28	C P Joshi	58	Rural Development, Panchati Raj
29	M K Azhagiri	58	Chemicals & Fertilizers
30	Virbhadra Singh	75	Steel
31	Farooq Abdullah	72	New and Renewable energy
32	Subodh Kant Sahay	58	Food Processing industries
33	Kantilal Bhuria	58	Tribal Affairs
	Ministers of state		Independent charge
34	Prithviraj Chavan	63	Science and Tech,PMO,Personnel
35	Jairam Ramesh	55	Environment & Forest
36	Praful Patel	52	Civil Aviation
37	Sriprakash Jaiswal	64	Coal, Statistics
38	Salman Khursheed	56	Corporate, Minorities
39	Dinsha Patel	72	MSM Enterprises
40	Krishna Tirath	54	Women & Child Development
	Ministers of state
41	Srikant Jena	58	Chemicals
42	E Ahamed	71	Railways
43	Mullapally Ramachandran	53	Home affairs
44	V Narayanasamy	61	Planning, Parliamentary affairs
45	Jyotiraditya Scindia	38	Commerce and Industry
46	D Purandeswari	50	Commerce and Industry
47	K H Muniyappa	61	Railways
48	Ajay Maken	45	Home Affairs
49	Panabaka Lakshmi	50	Textiles
50	Namo Narain Meena	65	Finance
51	M M Paliam Raju	46	Defence
52	Saugata Roy	62	Urban Development
53	S S Palanimanickam	58	Finance
54	Jitin Prasad	36	Petroleum and natural Gas
55	A Sai Prathap	64	Steel
56	Gurudas kamat	55	Communications and IT
57	Harish Rawat	62	Labour and Employment
58	K V Thomas	63	Agri, ConsAffairs, food and PD
59	Mahadev Khandela	65	Road transport and highways
60	Dinesh Trivedi	59	Health and family welfare
61	Sisir Adhikari	66	Rural Development
62	Sultan Ahmed	56	Tourism
63	Mukul Roy	55	Shipping
64	Mohan Jatua	71	I&B
65	D Napoleon	46	Social Justice & Empowerment
66	S Jagathrakhshakan	61	I&B
67	S Gandhiselvan	46	Health and Family Welfare
68	Preneet Kaur	64	External Affairs
69	Tusharbhai Chaudhury	42	Tribal Affairs
70	Sachin Pilot	31	Communications and IT
71	Arun Yadav	35	Youth Affairs and Sports
72	Prateek P Patil	35	Heavy Industries & Public Ent.
73	R P N Singh	39	Road transport and Highways
74	Shashi Tharoor	53	External Affairs
75	Vincent Pala	41	Water Resources
76	Pradeep Jain	49	Rural Development
77	Bharatsinh solanki	55	Power
78	Agatha Sangma	28	Rural Development

India Election Results - tallies from 1951 - 2009

Since the year 1951 till 2009, the following table provides a complete insight into the various standing positions of the parties at each election

Election Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	No of seats
1951	Cong-364	CPI-16	*SP-12	KMPP-9	PDF-7	489
1957	Cong-371	CPI-27	PSP-19	SCF-6	JHP-6	494
1962	Cong-361	CPI-29	SWA-18	JS-14	PSP-12	494
1967	Cong-283	SWA-44	BJS-35	DMK-25	CPI/SSP-23	520
1971	Cong-352	CPM-25	CPI-23	DMK-23	BJS-22	518
1977	BLD-295	INC-154	CPM-22	ADK-18	SAD-9	542
1980	Cong-353	JNP(S)41	CPM-37	JNP-31	DMK-16	529
1984	Cong-414	TDP-30	CPM-22	ADK-12	JNP-10	541
1989	Cong-197	JD-43	BJP-85	CPM-33	CPI12	529
1991	Cong-244	BJP-120	JD-59	CPM-35	CPI-14	534
1996	BJP-161	INC-140	JD-46	CPM-32	TMC(M)-20	543
1998	BJP-182	INC-141	CPM-32	SP-20	ADMK-18	543
1999	BJP-182	INC-114	CPM-33	TDP-29	SP-26	543
2004	Cong-145	BJP-138	CPM-43	SP-36	RJD-14	543
2009	Cong-206	BJP-116	SP-23	BSP-21	JD(U)-20	543

 

IN 1951- *SP-SOCIALIST PARTY
               KMPP- Kisan Mazdoor Praja party
               PDF- Peoples Democratic front

In 1957 - PSP - Praja Socialist party
             SCF- All India Scheduled Caste Federation
             JHP - Jharkhand Party

In 1962  - SWA - Swatantra
               JS  - Jan Sangh

In 1967 - SSP - Samyukta Socialist

In 1971 - BJS - Bharatiya Jan sangh

In 1977 - BLD - Bharatiya Lok Dal
             ADK - All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Khazagam

In 1980 - JNP(S)  - Janata Party (Secular)

In 1996 - TMC(M) - Tamil Maanila Congress ( Moopanar)

Lok Sabha elections 2009 : Final tally of seats and winners

Party	Seats	Alliance
UNITED PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE - 262		UPA - 262 seats
Indian national Congress	206
Trinamool Congress	19
DMK	18
Nationalist Congress Party	9
National Conference	3
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	2
Muslim League Kerala State Committee	2
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen	1
Bodoland People's Front	1
Kerala Congress (Mani)	1
	Total	262
NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE		NDA - 159 seats
Bharatiya Janata Party	116
Janata Dal-United	20
Shiv Sena	11
Rashtriya Lok Dal	5
Akali Dal	4
Telangana Rashtra Samithi	2
Asom Gana Parishad	1
	Total	159
THIRD FRONT		TF - 80 seats
Bahujan Samaj Party	21
CPI-M	16
Biju Janata Dal	14
AIADMK	9
Telegu Desam Party	6
CPI	4
Janata Dal-Secular	3
Forward Bloc	2
Revolutionary Socialist Party	2
MDMK	1
Haryana Janhit Congress	1
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)	1
	Total	80
FOURTH FRONT		27  Seats
Samajwadi Party	23
Rashtriya Janata Dal	4
	Total	27
OTHERS		15 seats
Independents	9
Assam United Democratic Front	1
Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi	1
Swabhimani Paksha	1
Nagaland People's Front	1
Sikkim Democratic Front	1
VCK	1
	Total	15

                                                Total       - 543 seats

Lok Sabha Elections : Cong is King - calls the shots

Its a pleasant surprise for Independent India of the modern times to be presented with a result that promises more stability than has been witnessed in recent times.

While no one thought that the congress-led UPA would emerge as winners, some did opine that the Congress would turn out to be the single largest party and the UPA as the topmost coalition, but few imagined that the party would retain office with a staggering tally of 206 seats - the highest that any single party has got in the last 25 years . The UPA has secured a tally of 262 seats which is only 10 short of the simple majority of 272 seats required to form a government.

The extent of the Congress win looks more remarkable when one considers the fact that the Congress did not contest all seats in big states such as Maharashtra,West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Besides it took the plunge on its own in states such as UP and Bihar without any groundwork or preparation. While the gamble did not pay off in Bihar, it threw up delightful results for the party in Uttar Pradesh. Bihar also gave the party a sizeable chunk of the Muslim votebank.

The election thus marked an emphatic endorsement of Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi as the leader of the UPA. It also gave a thumbs up to the young Rahul Gandhi whose hard work in Uttar Pradesh provided more than the desired results to the party. The congress themselves are pleasantly surprised with the final tally which is an impressive 206 seats on its own and 262 seats in total for the UPA.

Well done! Now the bigger job of leading the country in the right direction, by keeping with the times, lies ahead!

Goa Lok Sabha elections 2009: Assembly wise votes polled in North Goa

Name of Assembly segment	Shripad Naik	Jitendra Desh Prabhu	Christopher Fonseca	Pandurang Raut	Martha D'Souza
Mandrem	8759	7454	492	898	204
Pernem	8308	9219	539	355	250
Bicholim	8782	5055	420	1198	176
Tivim	6634	6792	326	185	125
Mapusa	8537	4766	393	396	119
Siolim	7763	5855	425	295	151
Saligao	7288	5371	381	198	124
Calangute	4578	7803	441	163	160
Porvorim	6651	4303	370	166	109
Aldona	6232	7021	428	238	146
Panaji	7996	4212	274	139	112
Taleigao	5260	7793	374	172	130
St.Cruz	5578	6959	533	144	149
St. Andre	4580	7072	329	117	122
Cumbarjua	5811	5963	399	183	99
Mayem	8214	5008	421	508	198
Sanquelim	7627	4960	512	249	91
Poriem	4987	11504	518	296	320
Valpoi	4928	9933	460	239	266
Priol	9073	4224	610	496	166
Postal ballot papers	130	96	1	3	0
Total Number of votes recorded at Polling Stations	1,37,716	1,31,363	8,646	6638	3217
RESULT	WINNER	LOSER	3rd place	4th place	5th place

Goa Lok Sabha elections 2009: Assembly wise votes polled in South Goa

Name of Assembly segment	Francisco Sardinha	Narendra Sawaikar	Matanhy Saldanha	Raju Mangueshkar	Hamza Khan
Ponda	6241	8278	164	262	82
Shiroda	7701	7597	156	285	167
Marcaim	2911	9157	113	381	147
Mormugao	4374	5400	241	163	81
Vasco	6329	6349	248	205	110
Dabolim	4659	4345	485	142	78
Cortalim	6584	4016	2860	507	148
Nuvem	8956	1524	1745	132	149
Curtorim	7978	4169	924	148	94
Fatorda	6109	5736	746	144	42
Margao	8247	6790	560	121	117
Benaulim	6291	1720	2678	114	64
Navelm	4909	4816	928	106	67
Cuncolim	7018	4030	1298	144	112
Velim	9601	2850	1415	158	159
Quepem	7712	6348	944	300	290
Curchorem	4891	6916	304	164	67
Sanvordem	4014	8317	78	457	163
Sanguem	5083	7813	242	308	207
Canacona	7793	8645	593	321	192
Postal ballot papers	1,27,401	1,14,816	16,722	4,562	2,536
Total Number of votes recorded at Polling Stations
RESULT	WINNER	LOSER	3rd place	4th place	5th place

Its Sardinha in South Goa, Shripad in the North

While the whole country was agog with the most sensational news of a surprise UPA ( United Progressive alliance) comeback in the country, Goa threw up no surprises with the Goan electorate settling for the tried and tested political warhorses of Goa.

So while the Bharatiya Janata party retained the seat in the North Goa ( Panaji) constituency, the Congress maintained its stronghold on the South Goa ( Mormugao constituency). Both the MPs will therefore be serving their third term in the parliament.

While the two candidates may have won in their respective constituencies, their margins of victory this time were dented by their political opponents to a significant amount.. The North Goa candidate Mr Shripad Naik defeated the Nationalist Congress party ( NCP ) candidate  Mr Jitendra Deshprabhu by a mere 6,353 votes. In the last election held in 2004 Mr Naik had won from this constituency by over 56, 213 votes which suggested how massive the drop in victory had been this time around. The NCP candidate in the meanwhile was ruing the fact that an extra bit of hard work could have seen him pulling it off in the race. While Mr Shripad Naik polled 1,37,716 votes, the NCP candidate could muster close on his heels with a tally of 1, 31,363 votes

In South Goa, the Congress nominee Mr Francisco Sardinha was a winner by a margin of only 12,516 votes over his nearest BJP rival Mr Narendra Sawaikar. Mr Sardinha had won this seat last time in the November 2007 bye-election by a margin of over 40,893 votes. Blaming some party men for anti-party activities which resulted in his lower victory margin, Mr Sardinha said that the victory had given a befitting reply to such elements within the party. Mr Francisco Sardinha polled a total of 1,27,494 votes whereas the BJP candidate could manage around 1,14,978 votes. The UGDP candidate Mr Mathany Saldanha also bit into the congress vote-bank , emerging  third in the race with a tally of 16,727 votes.

Goa Catholic Minority front to lodge complaint with EC

The Goa catholic Minority Front(GCMF) a newly formed organisation is expected to lodge a complaint with the Election Commission and the Minorities commission Delhi against the office of the chief Electoral officer for the controversial statements made by him that " weddings in Goa should be cancelled if couples do not get permission to serve liquor to their guests art their wedding receptions".

The GCMF which has been formed in a bid to safeguard and protect the interests of the catholic community in Goa has appointed Mr Barnabe Sapeco from Panjim as its convenor while Mr Eddie Fernandes of Vasco is its co-convenor.

The association informed that weddings in Goa are events which happen after lot of advance planning, often a year before the wedding date. The organisation strongly condemned the statement made by the chief electoral officer that weddings be cancelled or postponed if the requisite permission to serve liquor is not obtained at their wedding receptions. This, they opined was a direct insult to Goa and Goans at large while highlighting the immaturity on the part of the Chief Electoral officer in responding to a very delicate issue which discriminates against a minority community.

The sentiments of Catholics have been hurt by the restrictions as the serving of wine at wedding receptions is an age old custom and a local tradition of Goans.

It may be recalled that nearly fourteen wedding couples had sought permission from the election commission to serve wine in line with earlier precedents when such permission was allowed in such special cases

Goa parties vs Goa elections

Goa parties in this case are not the political ones that are fighting the Goa elections. Rather they are the ones who have been crying foul that elections are responsible for their party going awry. Wedding party that is.

It is no secret that over the years, the various directives of the election commission seem to have infused a discord among common men and many of the directives seem to be out of touch with reality and the prevailing customs and traditions or ground realities of a particular region or state.

The latest controversy over banning of liquor at wedding parties in Goa has been met with a very bitter taste from the affected party people who have termed this high-handed autocratic attitude of the election commission as being out of sync with common sensibilities. Such an attitude only contributes to the frustration and irritation of the common man in Goa who is more inclined to boycott voting thereby undermining the whole electoral process.

It has to be noted that wedding parties in Goa are planned months in advance, if not years. During such planning, most often,  neither the elections are decided nor the government announcements to that effect is made. No notifications are done while Goans are busily preparing for that great day in the life of a family. With elections suddenly beating the drum, are Goan weddings expected to shut down their plans at the last minute at the cost of all the planning and with much money down the barrel?

The custom of serving liquor at weddings is a traditional Goan custom as also being an Indian custom at many Indian weddings all over the country. However it is more prominent in Goa since colonial times. Such wedding receptions in Goa are private affairs with no public access to such parties. how does such conduct affect the elections in Goa? That too despite seeking specific permission on a case to case basis? Isn't the denial of permission to such wedding receptions a case of extreme high handedness by the concerned authorities?

It seems that the election commission is keeping Goa on par with states with a rampant history of poll violence such as lawless Bihar or belligerent UP, in absolute disregard for Goa's history and cultural traditions besides being the country's hottest destination of world tourism.

Inducing the closure of over thousands of bars and wholesale liquor shops etc in the name of elections for weeks together does not improve the conduct of elections in any way. All that it causes is artificial shortage to the common man which is abused by black marketers as per their whims besides the inconvenience to Goans , hardships, monetary loss and loss of business for Goa thereby straining the government exchequer due to an inexplicable clampdown.

It is therefore time for the election commission to do some self-introspection and identify the areas where its stubbornness is causing more harm than good. Whether its efforts in a particular direction bear the fruit for which they were instituted or whether the enforcement of certain directives only contribute towards the bitterness of the common man without riddling the actual problem.

All rules and regulations need to be updated regularly keeping in mind the practical situations at hand while ensuring no dilution in the effect caused towards seeking the desired results.

Election commission relaxes restrictions in Goa

Post polling in Goa the election commission has relaxed certain activities in the state which includes tours of ministers to districts and accompaniment of officers on such tours, calling for bids, evaluation of such bids and finalisation of bids and awarding of contracts.

The commission has also instructed that security briefings of the Chief Minister and the Home Minister in essential times should be undertaken by either the home secretary or the Chief Secretary who in turn should be briefed by Police agencies.

The commission seeks to safeguard a free fair and transparent election system  to provide a level playing field to all political parties while ensuring that there is no scope for public complaints that the political establishment in power on the day is not misusing government machinery for political purposes.

however the Election commission has also reiterated that their instructions should not be construed as any restriction to any security related activity of the law enforcing agencies and should not be therefore used as a reason for any inaction ort delay in action to be taken by them. Bonafide performance of the police agencies in the execution of their duty or exercise of their authority should therefore be expected to be undertaken

Goa throws up 54% turnout for Lok sabha polls

Over 54 % of Goans turned up to exercise their franchise in the Lok sabha polls for the two seats of Panaji and Mormugao constituency yesterday even as both the BJP and the Congress-NCP combine were upbeat about their chances of victory from both the seats by wishful margins.

The statistics mean that nearly half of the 10.19 lakh registered electorate did not turn up to vote at the elections. The votes are expected to be counted on the 16th of may and the Electronic Voting machines (EVMs) have already been moved to the respective counting centers in the state.

As per the figures  the North Goa parliamentary constituency of Panaji had a voter turnout of 56.5 % while the south Goa constituency had a turnout of 50.3 % . So from a total electorate of 4,86,789 in the north, 2,75,046 voters turned up to exercise their franchise while 2,68,416 voters turned up in South Goa from a total electorate of 5,33,188 voters.

Thw BJP predicted a hat-trick victory in North Goa for their candidate Mr Shripad Naik while the congress exuded confidence in wresting the seat for its coalition partner the NCP.The BJP also feels that in South Goa, the UGDP candidate Mr Mathany Saldanha will have succeeded in grabbing a large chunk of Congress votes thereby weakening the Congress whereas the same fears could be haunting the BJP in the North seat, with the MGP's Pandurang Raut and the Shiv Sena's Upendra Gaonkar estimated to snatch a large pie of the vote bank thereby denting the BJP cause.

Goa goes to vote for a new Indian government

The drums have fallen silent and the fingers are being kept crossed as Goa joins 13 states which go to the polls today to elect 141 candidates to the Lok Sabha from a total of 2,041 aspirants.

So along with the state of Goa there are states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Tripura which go to the polls today. However most of these states barring Tripura and Goa are going to the polls in part with some seats either polled for earlier or to be polled for in the third phase of Lok sabha elections.

Goans are faced with a difficult choice of candidates as compared to earlier Lok sabha elections owing to the fact that social activism in Goa has sprung up like never before. Goans have come to the streets to voice their concerns about the degradation of Goa through various quarters of the government and have shown their disgust at government apathy to the rampant and haphazard development of Goa in complete disregard to the life of its citizens.

So while Goans may be unhappy with the choice of candidates on offer, Goa has been known to throw up a good number of voters turning up for the elections. So although thrust with unsatisfactory options, Goans are known to prefer to vote rather than sit at home and brood about the elected nominee.

There is however a common lament that good people are not coming up to contest elections in Goa which is why the sub-ordinate candidates and the same old faces are elected time and again to the parliament.

Goa election campaigning ends as suitors await polls

The dust is slowly settling down on the election campaign in Goa which had reached a feverish pitch in the last few days with rallies, corner meetings and personal visits by the top candidates in their bid to woo the voters to buy their story of providing the best for Goa through a slew of promises.

Interestingly, both the Congress and the BJP the major contenders for the two seats predicted victory in both the constituencies. However the margin of victory predicted by the two parties differed in opposite directions. While the congress predicted that they would win South Goa by a margin of 50,000 votes, the party was confident of wresting the North Goa seat for its alliance partner the NCP, by a margin of at least 25,000 votes.

The Congress maintained that the response towards the party by the people of Goa was tremendous and even the rural areas of Goa were supporting the party unfailingly.

The BJP also contended that their candidates in both the constituencies would win the elections by a comfortable margin although the comfort was more for the North Goa seat than the south Goa seat.

With the national parties dominating the election scene in Goa, the regional parties such as the UGDP and the MGP claimed to have covered a lot of ground and staked their claim of winning the seat for south and North respectively. However it is expected that these two parties will only cut into the vote share of the Congress in the south and the BJP in the North.

Goa Wedding plans hit hard due to dry election spell

The weddings in Goa which were planned much more in advance to the schedule drawn up by the election commission had to face the unreasonable brunt of dry days with the commission refusing to grant permission to couples getting married in Goa to serve liquor for the ensuing celebrations.

The excise authorities which received 14 applications from all over Goa from couples with impending wedding celebrations slated for the 21st and 22nd of April had to face the denial by the excise authorities  as the election commission turned down their proposal to grant temporary licences to serve liquor to guests at the reception venues of the wedding celebrations.

Couples tying the knot were therefore a disappointed lot, after the election commission rejected their proposal to authorise the Goa government to issue temporary licences to couples planning wedding celebrations.

However it has to be noted that these couples had planned the weddings at least a year or more in advance to the election commissions declaration of election dates and therefore it was a hard pill to swallow for all the couples who had petitioned the government to grant permission. Tuesday saw nine weddings in the state of Goa with six of them in Salcete , two in Bardez and one in Taleigao.

Meanwhile a number of people gathered in front of the office of the Chief electoral officer on Tuesday morning to register their protest against a comment made by an official that the affected wedding parties could cancel their weddings or postpone it to a later date if they were feeling troubled by the restrictions. Citizens complained that the weddings were planned a year in advance and such comments were uncalled for.

Meanwhile after declining the permissions there were raids conducted on many wedding venues in Goa and the wedding parties were advised to refrain from serving liquor at all costs.

Goa Elections - Mormugao Seat - SSS contest

In the Mormugao parliamentary seat in South Goa, the contest seems to have broadened to include three candidates in the fray to lay claim for the coveted seat currently held by the Congress.

So it is the three "S"s in Sardinha, Sawaikar and Saldanha making a fervent claim to the south Goa seat traditionally held by the Congress. While the candidates in south Goa had a much cleaner campaigning system this time with no banners or posters, there were the occasional  loudspeaker jarring vehicles blaring away their commentary to seek votes for certain candidates.

While the Congress candidate Mr Francisco Sardinha was helped in his campaign by their national party president Ms Sonia Gandhi, The BJP candidate Mr Narendra Sawaikar had film actor Shatrughan Sinha and TV artiste Smriti Irani supporting the campaign while the UGDP being a regional Goan party, was ably supported in its campaign by the local party leaders Mr Anacleto Viegas and Mr Radharao Gracias.

Mr Sardinha, being a member of the ruling dispensation in Goa and the centre could derive benefit from the works carried out by his party in the south Goan constituency. Also the hard hitting speech of Ms Sonia Gandhi against the BJP during his election rally in Margao could lend the necessary power to his campaign. Mr Sardinha is also a seasoned campaigner for the last 30 years in Goan politics and a well known personality in Goa which could help his cause.

Mr Sardinha could however bear the brunt of inner party bickering in Goa where the open revolt of Mr Churchill Alemao the PWD minister who's daughter Ms Valanka Alemao was denied the same ticket is seen as a blow to the party's campaign.

Mr Sawaikar has been seen as a new face to the Goan electorate although his name was announced well in advance which helped his campaign. Besides his party's image and popularity, Mr Sawaikar, an unknown entity hasn't got much to get him further among the electorate.

The third "S" in the fray, Mr Mathany Saldanha is a shrewd canvasser who has been fighting for local issues such as the issues of CRZ, environment, special status for Goa, etc and could gobble up a sizeable chunk of votes which may be more harm to the congress than to the BJP. However the denial of his traditional party symbol at the last minute could be hard-hitting on him as also the fact that his reach in the hinterland areas of Goa has been limited.

People in south Goa are largely focused on voting for candidates who they feel could bring about development to Goa and open up Job opportunities to the unemployed youth of the region

The other seven candidates in the fray seem to be relatively unknown with little or no campaigning . These include Mr Jawahar Dias, Mr Derick Dias, Mr Francisco A J Fernandes, Mr Mulla Salim. Ms Smita Salunke and Mr Hamza Khan

Goa Elections : Panaji Seat - Its Shripad Vs Deshprabhu

Over the days it has been pretty clear that the main battle for the North Goa seat is between the two biggies from the old-Congress-new-NCP candidate Mr Jitendra Deshprabhu and the BJP's Mr Shripad Naik the sitting MP while the other 5 candidates are merely making up the numbers either to spoil the congress or the BJP's plans or to simply be also-ran heroes with no chance of putting up a fight leave alone a win.

With hardly 2 days left for the voting to commence on the 23rd of April, it is amply clear that the main battle between the two major national parties is bound to be fierce with  no clear indication of a clear winner as of now. Predictions are that the fight is bound to be pretty close.

The other notable candidates in the fray, Mr Pandurang Raut of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak party, The communist party of India perennial nominee Mr Christopher Fonseca  and the Shiv Sena contender Mr Upendra Gaonkar have all had their campaigns on a limited scale in the North Goa constituency owing to a lower number of party workers and lesser reach while the two independent candidates seem to be relying on family and friends to help them to the final tally.

The last few days were therefore busy for both the congress and the BJP with both the parties holding corner meetings to large meetings and visiting the voters houses to woo the electorate with their manifestoes and promises. The MGP, CPI and the Shiv sena have however resorted to nursing selective places which they feel has their vote-bank in an effort to make their presence felt in Goa.

Mr Shripad Naik commands support from the Bhandari community to whom he belongs and whose population is huge in North Goa. His MPLAD works and his projection of a clean image are considered to be his strengths. However Mr Narendra Modi is the only top leader to have come down to Goa to campaign for him besides the glamour of TV actress Ms Smriti Irani

Mr Deshprabhu on the other hand can take heart from the fact that his party is ruling at the centre as well as the state along with the congress and his top leaders of the party such as Mr Sharad pawar and Mr Praful Patel have come to Goa to campaign for him. However his image of a landlord can be his undoing and internal bickering within the local congress and NCP could be damaging to his prospects.

Nevertheless the people of North Goa have made up their mind regarding the candidate of their choice and the final reply after the voting on April 23rd will be given only on the 16th of May.

Special status for Goa : Promises and curses

The issue of special status for Goa is part of poll rhetoric which is being pulled out like a rabbit out of a hat for the Goan electorate to marvel at by the various candidates at Lok sabha or assembly elections.

Goans should realise that all that is being fed to us is only rhetoric alone with hollow promises. If our political parties in Goa were interested in the special status for this scarce land of Goa, they would have done it on their own without being reminded umpteen times which goes to prove that our elected representatives do not have any own agenda for the welfare of goa. All they can think of is an opportunity to take advantage of. Special status clamour is one such opportunity which can blind the reasoning power of Goans to favour a candidate who may have a history of doing nothing more than put his tongue out numerous times only in speech and no indications of any actions.

While Goa is in dire straits at the present moment, there is a grave need to shield our resources from the evil eyes of all and sundry who are out to make money at the expense of our land and sea. Our elected representatives who have been continuously reminded of their job needed to voice out Goa's concerns at the centre to enable us to get special status. However there has never been a demand so why should the centre bother.

So the sad part is soon after the election results are declared there will be two sides. One which could not win and the other which won. The winner will forget his/her manifesto and the loser will use the opportunity of the winners' loss of memory to trumpet at future election meetings. All in all it is a hopeless situation that we Goans find ourselves caught in among the cross fire of these more powerful Goans who do not care about Goa.

All manifestoes, promises, assurances are therefore to be treated as election jokes. One wonders as to when the election commission will allow voters in India to register "No-vote". Goans surely would grab the opportunity with both hands to shun all politicians away from the coveted seat..

Meanwhile for the current winner who will do nothing or mumble half hearted voices on the special status, our curses are in waiting.

Goa Lok Sabha elections : Delimitation blues

The South Goa parliamentary constituency is the larger of the two constituencies in Goa and has recently undergone a more demographic change subsequent to the delimitation process for the two constituencies. The Lok sabha polls in Goa on the 23rd of April will therefore be the first time that the elections will be held in delimited constituencies.

Both the north and the south Goa parliamentary constituencies of Panaji and Mormugao have 20 assembly segments each. However the south Goa constituency is bigger of the two by over 50,000 voters. From among the total voters aggregating to 10,18,068 in the state of Goa, the Mormugao parliamentary constituency has 5,32,057 voters as against 4,86,637 voters in the North Goa ( Panaji) constituency.

male voters in Mormugao account for over 2,66,870 in number while that of female voters is around 2,64,561. There are also 626 service voters including 424 males and 202 females. The largest number of service voters is in the Vasco da gama segment which has 365 voters followed by Dabolim which has 175 voters. Both these assembly constituencies are reflecting the presence of the defence establishments.

The above figures are astonishing since Priol constituency has been severed from Mormugao constituency and added to the North Goa constituency in the last delimitation process.Also part of Old Ponda constituency has been added to Valpoi assembly constituency which also falls in the North Goa parliamentary constituency.

The assembly wise aggregation towards the south Goa parliamentary seat is as follows. Three assembly constituencies from Ponda taluka, namely Ponda, Shiroda and Marcaim figure in the Mormugao parliamentary seat. From Mormugao taluka, Vasco-da-gama, Dabolim and Cortalim are a part of the south seat while eight assembly segments of Nuvem, Curtorim, Fatorda, Margao, Benaulim, Navelim, Cuncolim and Velim from Salcete taluka are in this parliamentary constituency.

Besides there are two assembly segments of Quepem and Curchorem from Quepem taluka and two others of Sanvordem and Sanguem from Sanguem taluka are attached to this constituency. There is only one assembly segment from Canacona taluka in the south Goa parliamentary constituency. Canacona is the largest assembly segment in this constituency with an electorate strength of 32,105 while Dabolim with 19,876 is the smallest assembly segment in South Goa.

Women outnumber their male counterparts in eight of the 20 assembly segments in South Goa seat namely in areas of Nuvem, Shiroda, Cuncolim, Velim, Curtorim, Benaulim and Sanguem.

Goa Lok sabha results in 2004 and 1999 polls

The elections to the Goa Lok sabha threw up the following combinations from the host of political parties that were in the fray. This should help readers with some background to Goan election times in the near past.

Name of the political party	seats contested	seats won	won %	Votes polled by party	percentage of votes polled
Indian national Congress	1	1	100	1,64,432	29.76
Bharatiya Janata party	2	1	50	2,58,750	46.83
Nationalist Congress party	1	0	0	88,,629	16.04
Communist party of India	2	0	0	12,015	2.17
Maharaashtrawadi Gomantak Party	2	0	0	7,584	1.37
Shivsena	2	0	0	6,244	1.13
United Goans Democratic Party	1	0	0	5,881	1.06