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SALCETE REJECTS DOUBLE ENGINE?
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SALCETE REJECTS DOUBLE ENGINE?

Dec 27- Jan 02, 2026, Zilla Polls December 26, 2025 , by

The four major takeaways from the recent ZP polls were, BJP could not crack Salcete, RGP’s Uzo burned bright, Independents are becoming a force and women power was in full display.

Unlike the last three times, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not win a single seat in the Catholic-dominated Salcete in the zilla parishad (ZP) elections despite the ruling party having three ministers, including former chief minister Digamber Kamat, from the Christian stronghold.
The media may scream that, for the third consecutive term, BJP has retained control of the State’s ZP polls; along with party loyalists claiming a decisive win for BJP and Maharashtra Gomantak Party (MGP).
The latter is closer to the truth as the real winner is MGP, which won all the three seats – Cuelim, Morjim, and Veling-Priol – it contested. The ground reality is that BJP has not made any headway in Salcete.
Not only did the Congress win all the eight zilla seats in Salcete, it also seized Guirdolim, Camurlim and Navelim, which were earlier held by other parties.
The Goa Revolutionary Party (GRP) bared its fangs by winning two seats, including St Cruz, considered the fiefdom of MLA Rudolf Fernandes, who defected to BJP from Congress in 2022.
A signal that St Cruz residents prefer Uzo or revolutionary zeal to Congress or BJP. The revolutionaries have protected their turf by winning both zilla seats in their constituencies – St Andre.
It is a sign that Goans may be disgusted with all political parties. All this is dramatised by the fact that four zilla seats went to independents – two in each district. Kavita Kandolkar won as an independent candidate in Colvale for the second consecutive term.
Sunita Jalmi won the Betqui-Candola seat, ousting BJP’s Govind Gaude by a margin of 2,000 votes, In Cortalim, Merciana Mendes unseated her Congress rival by 3,000 votes. Radhika Palyekar secured a photo finish win in Arambol with a margin of 56 votes against her closest rival in a five-cornered contest.
The ZP elections were also a display of women power as six women triumphed even in some unreserved constituencies.

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