FIRST SHOW

In Goa, quite a few debutants are making their electoral foray. Most of them are not new to politics though

- DNYANESH JATHAR/Goa

It is 6pm and Delilah Lobo—the Congress candidate from Siolim constituency in north Goa—is in Oxel village, campaigning from door to door. Politics is not new to Delilah; her husband, Michael Lobo, was a minister in the Pramod Sawantled BJP government for almost five years. He quit in December 2021, to join the Congress. Lobo was with the BJP for more than a decade and was a trusted lieutenant of party stalwart Manohar Parrikar. Back then, Delilah used to help Lobo manage his constituency, Calangute. So, after a detailed discussion with her husband, she took the plunge into full-time politics. Delilah had decided to run as an independent, hoping that the BJP would support her candidature. But, when that did not happen, the Lobos quit the BJP and joined the Congress, which offered them tickets from Calangute and Siolim.

As dusk sets in, Delilah stood at the door of a house in Oxel. Photographers accompanying her told her the house was dark and they would not be able to shoot. She told them not to shoot pictures as she would be visiting a bedridden voter. Inside the house, Delilah chatted with the family for five minutes.

Her next stop was a nearby temple. From there she went to a locality behind the temple where a few Hindu families reside. “I have come here for the overall development of this constituency. A village in this constituency, Vella-Kanka, is next to my village, Parra. This constituency lacks basic amenities like good roads and a regular water supply. I want to take up these issues and fix them,” Delilah told THE WEEK, “In Calangute, whenever legislators of neighbouring constituencies failed to take up issues, people met Michael. So we know that good leadership that will solve people’s problems is lacking. That is why I am contesting.”