Confusion reigns supreme in Goa BJP ahead of polls

As Goa awaits the BJP’s list of candidates for the February 14 elections to be declared, the ruling party finds itself dealing with far too many ticket aspirants threatening to spoil the show, forcing it to hold secret ballots in each constituency to aid the nomination process.

Among the questions faced by the BJP, which is seeking another chance to be in government, after being in power for the past 10 years, is whether the party should opt for fresh faces in a few constituencies where sitting MLAs and ministers of the Pramod Sawant government are aspirants. But there is a clamour from the karyakartas for a change.

In October 2021, BJP was a first-mover taking its government’s progress card to the nook and corner of Goa through its 'Sarkar Tumchya Dari' or ‘Government at Your Doorstep’ programme aimed at bringing government services closer to the citizens.

It has also left no stone unturned with its social media messaging of its achievements over the past five years, focussing on the infrastructure being developed etc. But poll pundits point out that the party has been unable to officially enable a door-to-door campaign where its prospective candidates meet and communicate with their voters with just four weeks to go.

While in Calangute, with the departure of Michael Lobo, has forced the BJP to put in extra efforts with the candidate being a fresh face, the goings in capital Panaji too have been unpleasant.

Here BJP ticket aspirant and son of the late Manohar Parrikar has begun door-to-door visits (without citing a party or symbol) while sitting MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate has postponed the launch of his campaign saying that the party should first name the official candidate.

One can get a sense of the challenges the ruling party is facing from the statements of Utpal Parrikar, who says, “The current politics is unacceptable to me. Do winnability, integrity, character not matter? You are allowing a person with a criminal antecedent to contest from a constituency represented by Manohar Parrikar?”

Parrikar junior believes that this has to change and that he is trying his best to make that change. “All the senior leaders who worked for my father are working with me today. I am going to the people publicly and all the party workers who established the party here are with me,” he explains pointing to the question that the party is facing-- whether to field fresh faces and better its position as a party with a difference.

With Goa being a small state, the influence of its sitting legislators at times also extends to neighbouring constituencies. Adjoining Panaji is Santacruz, where sitting BJP MLA Tony Fernandes still doesn’t know if he is the party candidate. “We will know soon,” he says even as local newspapers have reported that Monserrate has backed former sarpanch of the neighbouring village Taleigao, Agnelo D'Cunha. A report in The Times of India says that BJP is faced with the highest number of aspirants for this particular seat with a few other office bearers from the local Santacruz unit also making a claim.

Current PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar is a claimant in Sanvordem where former BJP MLA Ganesh Gaonkar has also made his moves. In Sanguem, Savitri the wife of current deputy chief minister Chandrakant Babu Kavlekar is a BJP ticket aspirant, while BJP’s Subhash Phaldesai, who lost the 2017 polls to an independent candidate by a mere 1000 votes is seeking the party ticket.

Similarly, Canacona, the southernmost constituency bordering Karnataka is witnessing a repeat of 2017. BJP’s Deputy Speaker Isidore Fernandes is the sitting MLA. Fernandes had won the last elections on a Congress ticket, while the BJP local unit had two aspirants in former Minister Ramesh Tawadkar and Vijay Pai Khot, who bagged the ticket. Tawadkar who had left the party to fight as an independent and stood third is back in the party and re-seeking the ticket.

"We have shortlisted names for recommendation to the party's parliamentary board for the seats. Some will be finalised soon after more discussions," BJP’s Goa in-charge C T Ravi says. The ruling party will not field candidates from Benaulim and Nuvem, two constituencies that have traditionally elected candidates fielded on symbols of other parties barring the BJP. Both these constituencies come under the Christian-dominated Salcete taluka.

The BJP has been holding daily meetings of its core committee to finalise the names of its candidates. These deliberations are being held in the presence of former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is the party's in-charge, along with state unit president Sadanand Shet Tanavade, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, and other core committee members.

The BJP’s parliamentary board is likely to finalise the names of candidates on Sunday.

Besides the BJP and the Congress, several other parties, including the TMC and Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have joined the election battle in the coastal state in a bid to expand their political base. While the Congress and AAP have declared a few seats, like the BJP, the TMC too is yet to make any announcement.