Battle of alliances: BJP, Congress gear up for Ponda byelection; Minorities' support could sway the results

Ponda: Campaigning for the Ponda byelection came to an end on Tuesday evening, with the electorate torn between parties, and personal connect. Though three candidates are in fray for the byelection on April 9, the main contest is expected to be between BJP and Congress.In 2022, BJP won the seat with just 77 votes, but the dynamics changed in the byelection as 3,996 votes were deleted under the special intensive revision (SIR). This is the first assembly constituency election after the new electoral roll was published following SIR. Ponda has a total of 28,161 male and female voters. In 2022, there were 32,157 voters. There are around 3,000 new voters enrolled.BJP has won the seat only on one occasion in 2022 after former chief minister and Congress MLA Ravi Naik switched to BJP on the eve of the assembly poll.

Until then, the seat was represented by MGP, followed by Congress.In the 2022 election, there were six candidates in the fray. It was a direct fight between Ravi, the BJP candidate, and Ketan Bhatikar, who was the MGP candidate. This time around, MGP has formed an alliance with BJP, and Bhatikar has left MGP to contest on a Congress ticket. This has led to many MGP members switching over to Congress to support Bhatikar.

BJP has decided to go ahead with Ravi’s son Ritesh as its candidate.

RG is working to make sure that Congress secures the seat, while GFP has not supported opposition candidates.BJP has given its all to secure the byelection ahead of the 2027 assembly polls. However, Congress and AAP’s presence on the ground have made it a tough contest. AAP is making its presence felt as compared to the 2022 assembly election where it secured over 600 votes.Door-to-door, corner meetings, a public meeting of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal have turned the Ponda byelection into a high-stake election although the results will not have an impact on the strength of govt. Even chief minister Pramod Sawant visited Ponda almost every day.A political observer said that on face value it appears that political parties are supporting their big brothers in the byelection but the results will show the reality “The result of the byelection will bring clarity to the big brothers whether their alliance partners have supported their candidates,” a political observer said.Congress has fielded Ketan Bhatikar and AAP, Geetesh Naik. The Ponda byelection is being held following the death of Ravi in Oct 2025 when he was an agriculture minister in BJP-led coalition govt.Senior advocate and political observer Cleofato Coutinho said that caste matters at election time. “The bhandari community is consolidating against the upper caste. The Vanni community is substantial in Ponda. To my mind they are inclined towards the ruling party unless their own like Rajesh Verenkar is in the fray,” Coutinho said.With around 6,500 votes, the minority population is likely to play a key role in deciding the winner in Ponda. “The minority communities are veering against BJP. The fate of Ritesh is dependent upon how much Bhatikar retains his personal vote base which he has nurtured for a long time,” Coutinho added.Over the years, Ponda has become a metropolitan urban area. It is home to many from Rajasthan, Kerala and Karnataka which has changed the dynamic of the constituency. BJP held meetings with different communities that have settled in Goa from outside the state and sought their support, whereas Congress is banking on minority votes to help them sail through.At the end of the campaign, all three political parties have expressed confidence of winning the seat with a huge margin.