PANAJI: Constituencies located in the mining belt of Goa witnessed highest voter turnout in the Assembly elections held on Monday.
According to the Election Commission data, constituencies in the mining region reported more than 80% polling while the overall figure for the state was 78.94% — 79.84% in North Goa and 78.15 % in South Goa.
There is a perceptible anger against the ruling BJP among voters in the mining belt as it couldn’t restart mining. Over two lakh people depended on mining and related works in the coastal state. The area had witnessed a lull in economic activities due to the ban.
All seats in the mining region are currently represented by BJP MLAs.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant’s constituency, Sanquelim, witnessed the highest polling of 89.64% in Goa.
According to Kishor Naik Gawankar, editor of Goamantak Varta, people in the mining belt are agitated against the incumbent government for not reopening the mines.
“People have shown their anger by coming out to vote in large numbers. There are many families who are debt-ridden due to the closure of mines. Besides, the families of jobless mine workers are suffering financially. It will be interesting to see whether the higher voting percentage will hurt the BJP or it still manages to garner the people’s support,” Gavankar said.
Goa Congress president Girish Chondankar said the Supreme Court had not banned legal mining yet the BJP government failed to resume mining.
“Congress party has promised to restart mining activities, therefore people in this particular area came out in large numbers to ouster the BJP from power,” he claimed.