BJP rides on Parrikar’s shoulders
The ex-CM is on a campaign trail to woo voters in North and South Goa
Seven years after his government was edged out, BJP leader Manohar Parrikar is in a strong position to make a comeback as the chief minister.
The only poser to his aspiration was mollified after MP Sripad Naik, who has for long been projected as an alternative by the non-Brahmin lobby, was bluntly told by Nitin Gadkari to steer clear of Goa politics after he made known his intentions to contest the state election.
However, speculations galore on whether the BJP chariot can roll to power in Goa on its own or even in an alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
The BJP’s best performance here was in the 2002 election when it inched past the Congress with 17 seats (out of 40) and formed a coalition government with the MGP and UGDP (United Goans Democratic Party). In 2007 though, the saffron party secured 14 seats, demonstrating its lack of reach in large swathes of Goa where the 27 per cent Catholic vote makes all the difference.
For Manohar Parrikar, who has been campaigning for a fortnight now, riding through the villages in South and North Goa in a chariot, these are statistics he would rather relegate to the past. Shouting above the raucous din of ‘Kolaveri di’ playing on his pick-up, Parrikar says his Janasampark Abhiyan, more than half-way through Goa already, has given him a sense that the voter is looking for change.
“You can see it on their faces,” he says, waving to curious onlookers drawn to the balconies by the BJP election convoy. At village junctions and tintos (marketplace) Parrikar jumps off the rath to shake hands with large groups of students waiting for a bus, shopkeepers and bystanders.
His state-wide abhiyan has enthused the BJP cadres and helped him interact with a substantial number of Catholic voters, he says, arguing that the anti-Congress sentiments in Goa is evident this time. “This anti Congress wave should not be broken,” he says.
But Parrikar’s overdrive has much to do with the Congress’ inability to field a strong enough candidate to challenge him in his Panjim constituency.
Unfettered by the burden of having to campaign to get himself re-elected, as he had to in 2007, the BJP leader is criss-crossing Goa, leaving no one in doubt that he will assume charge as CM if the BJP manages a win. His first priority, though, is to get the Congress out, he says.
