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Winning the Goa polls by defeating the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is becoming a prestige issue with the Congress, as it is the first assembly poll in the country following the outbreak of violence in Gujarat.
"A clear cut message has to go to the entire nation that people condemn and reject such communal and criminal elements," states former Union minister Jagdish Tytler, who has been camping in the tourist state for over a week now.
Desperation to be the vehicle for conveying this message could be the reason for Congress president Sonia Gandhi giving party tickets to controversial persons, including habitual defectors and scamsters, considering their 'winnability' factor.
However, this is against the wishes of the educated Goan voter and the Congress even risks inviting the wrath of the Goan Roman Catholic church, which has openly appealed to the Catholic community to defeat corrupt and communal elements as well as defectors.
Though not comprising more than 26 per cent of the electorate, the Congress considers the Goan Christian community as its 'fixed deposit' even as it woos the Hindu votes.
Muslims comprise hardly two per cent of the population.
Almost a dozen defectors have been given party tickets. Among them are some who toppled the Congress government within five months of the June 1999 assembly polls by joining hands with the BJP.
In fact, senior Congress leaders are touting the roping in of Ravi Naik, deputy chief minister in the BJP government, along with two of his ministerial colleagues as a major 'achievement'.
"We have scrutinised their records thoroughly. Neither any of them has been chargesheeted by any court nor convicted for any scam," states Congress observer Ramesh Chennithala, who is masterminding the party campaign.
However, he conveniently skips the part about Naik being a defector.
The stakes being what it is, the consequences of a defeat in Goa cannot even be contemplated, a Congress leader said.
Hence, hectic preparations are on to ensure that little, if anything, is left to chance.
Apart from deploying a whole lot of senior leaders, including chief ministers of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, to address public meetings, party chief Sonia Gandhi is also expected to address a grand rally in Panaji on May 23.
However, with five ex-CMs and 15 ex-ministers among its candidates, how the party keeps its flock together after the polls is a question that merits serious thought.
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