Once a strong MGP bastion since 1963, wherein late Kusumakar Kadkade and Shashikala Kakodkar fought the elections and won, the Bicholim constituency is now divided between the MGP and the BJP.
In early 2000, the BJP took an upper hand in the constituency only to lose it to independent, Naresh Sawal in 2012 after their two-time MLA Rajesh Patnekar joined Congress.
However, with Patnekar joining BJP and the MGP giving an open invitation to Sawal to join the party, the two alliance partners are at loggerheads again.
“Our party needs such leaders and I invite him to join the MGP after his term gets over,” said MGP leader Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar recently.
Dhavalikar’s move came as a surprise since Sawal is already in cohorts with two other independents – Vijai Sardesai and Rohan Khaunte, who are instrumental in forming Goa Forward, a new regional outfit.
When contacted, the Bicholim MLA said that the recent election results have shown that except in Assam, people have given mandate to regional parties in all states.
“Presently we are (Rohan, Vijay and Sawal) supporting Goa Forward and I have not yet decided which party to join. Everyone has the freedom to join any party and I will decide based on what people tell me,” Sawal told Herald.
He added, “Congress is welcoming old politicians and it is an individual decision which party to join. But the parties should know that if they want to defeat BJP, they need to be strong enough. Many parties have invited me but I will stand by people’s views.”
But Sawal needs to understand the fact that the ‘ghar vapasi’ of Rajesh Patnekar made him bite dust in the municipal election, where the BJP-backed panel won 10 out of 12 seats.
The BJP’s shrewd move to bring back Patnekar, who was a two-time BJP MLA but joined the Congress in the 2012 Assembly election, seems to have worked successfully.
Even if Sawal joins the MGP, there is no guarantee he would get a ticket from Bicholim as BJP would never allow the regional outfit to gain an upper hand in its stronghold.
Bicholim history
During the tenure of the first Chief Minister of Goa, late Dayanand Bandodkar from 1963 to 1971, and later during Shashikala Kakodkar’s tenure as Chief Minister till 1979, the MGP was outrightly supported by the Bahujan Samaj, the Marathas, the Bhandari community and other communities.
Late Dattaram Chopdekar (1967) and Kakodkar of MGP who won in 1972 and 1977 from Bicholim belonged to the Bahujan Samaj.
The Bicholim town has Catholic and Muslim voters, who have always supported the Congress party, and the rural areas of Bicholim constituency, which include Advalpal, Latambarsem, Van-Mavlingem, Mencurem, Sal and Mulgaon, is dominated by Hindu voters, who predominantly belong to the Maratha and Bhandari communities.
There is also a presence of the Saraswat and Vaishya communities in Bicholim town.
