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Khalap's miscalculation may cost him dear

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

He is quite desperate to go the Lok Sabha once again, having made his debut as Union minister in 1996. But joining the Congress has placed him on such slippery ground that he would have only himself to blame if he loses.

Ramakant Khalap appears to have miscalculated the feelings of the electorate, instead getting carried away by the simple calculation that to win the North Goa (Panaji) seat -- which he had lost in '98 to the Congress as the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party candidate - he only needed the former's support.

The MGP is not in the fray this time. But rather than strengthen his position, this factor may benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party more if the mood among the voters in the interior areas is any indication.

Hordes of young cadres and even veteran MGP workers have been joining the BJP, cursing Khalap for ditching them for personal gains.

Khalap's calculation was simple. He thought he could add the 68,000 votes that Ravi Naik (the Congress candidate last time) got to the 62,000 he had garnered thus beating the BJP convincingly.

But politics is not arithmetic, especially in North Goa which has no tradition of electing the same party or candidate consecutively.

Khalap definitely has better credentials than the BJP candidate Shripad Naik in terms of parliamentary performance. But the former Union minister has to contend with the wave that the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has left in his wake. He also has to convince his former MGP comrades why they should not go with the BJP, an almost impossible task at the moment.

As they lost the seat last time by just 420 votes, the BJP is moving in a much more organised fashion this time. It had secured a lead in five assembly segments, while conceding six segments to the Congress.

Khalap would definitely secure a lead in Pernem taluka. Bicholim, another segment, is a BJP stronghold. Coastal Bardez and Tiswadi are equally divided between the Congress and the BJP and even a marginal edge by one of the contenders here can prove decisive.

Khalap's chances are also bound to be affected by the presence of the Nationalist Congress Party candidate Sadanand Malik, his old party colleague, and the CPI candidate Christopher Fonseca, a popular trade union leader, in the fray.

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