Daijiworld Media Network - Benaulim
Benaulim, Oct 6: As the Congress’ Goy Rakhonn Yatra enters Salcete on Tuesday, Benaulim is set to be one of its first key stops, with the party hoping to regain the constituency in the 2027 Assembly elections.
The yatra has generated considerable interest among Congress workers and supporters as the party has not won the Benaulim seat since 1999, when former chief minister Churchill Alemao was elected from the constituency on a Congress ticket.
Since then, Benaulim has changed hands several times. Former minister Mickky Pacheco represented the constituency on different party platforms, including the United Goans Democratic Party and the Nationalist Congress Party. Goa Vikas Party MLA Caitu D’Silva won the seat in 2012, while the NCP regained it in 2017 with Churchill Alemao emerging victorious.
In the 2022 Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party won Benaulim, with Venzy Viegas emerging victorious.
Local Congress workers, particularly the Benaulim Block Congress Committee, have consistently opposed any electoral alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, maintaining that the Congress is capable of reclaiming the seat on its own.
The party leadership had faced a backlash when it conceded the Benaulim Zilla Panchayat seat to the AAP in the 2024 ZP bye-poll. However, the Congress later wrested the seat from the AAP in the 2025 Zilla Panchayat elections, strengthening the block committee's confidence.
Buoyed by the ZP victory, the Benaulim Block Congress Committee has continued its organisational activities in the constituency and has projected ZP member Luiza Rodrigues as a prospective candidate for the 2027 Assembly elections.
Last week, the Congress inducted social activist Santan Pereira in an effort to further strengthen its organisation in Benaulim. At the induction programme, South Goa MP Captain Viriato Fernandes expressed confidence that Benaulim would return to the Congress fold in 2027.
Meanwhile, youth leader Warren Alemao's appeal to people to join the Congress' Goy Rakhonn Yatra in Benaulim on Tuesday has added to the political buzz ahead of the programme, which is scheduled to begin at the Dando grounds.
Warren, a cousin of Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, had met senior Congress leaders at Congress House some time ago, fuelling speculation that the party could open its doors to him. However, his entry into the Congress has yet to materialise.
It has been more than a year since Warren first expressed his willingness to join the Congress. His meeting with the party leadership over a month ago had again fuelled speculation that a decision could be imminent, but no announcement followed.
Warren's latest appeal has further intensified speculation over whether he has received the party leadership's nod and whether the Congress will formally induct him ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.