PANJIM: The objection of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s three mandals to the exclusion of Ramesh Tawadkar from the list of candidates just proves that satisfying various castes is a very serious game for politicians. 

It is quite understandable why the party’s Canacona Mandal protested against the party for not announcing his candidature instantly. After all Tawadkar is reputed for having helped the ST community from his constituency but also changing the face of the taluka by making the departments under him provide their schemes there.

In Canacona constituency, the number of youngsters including ST youth who have secured government jobs in the last five years is astounding. Besides, Tawadkar also ensured that his constituency benefitted from the departments he headed and proof of this is the number of poly houses in Canacona from where capsicums, orchids and other exotic flowers are being exported everyday thereby changing the lives of hundreds of people who have now become affluent.

But it is quite perplexing why other Mandals of BJP should object to his exclusion from the candidates list especially as the BJP has other candidates who belong to the ST community. There is Ganesh Gaonkar in Sanvordem, Prakash Velip in Quepem and Pandurang Madkaikar in Cumbarjua.

Pandurang Madkaikar is not considered to be a BJP person by the party workers down South. Pandurang Madkaikar is seen as a Congressman who has surreptitiously joined the BJP. Besides, since he was not on the ruling benches, he could not help the ST community much in the last five years and was not in touch with it.

As for Ganesh Gaonkar and Prakash Velip, they probably are not seen as minister material within the BJP as Tawadkar was and he did help the community as a minister.

Significantly, Goa despite having a sizeable ST population does not have a seat reserved at the Assembly elections for this community even though there are seats reserved for them at the Panchayat elections.

Every political party has ensured that there have been ST candidates for every election. Chandrakant alias Babu Kavlekar has in fact turned to be the ST face for the Congress while the BJP had many of them including Vinay Tendulkar, Babuso Gaonkar and Prakash Velip in the past. BJP has had other MLAs from this community like Ganesh Gaonkar representing Sanvordem or Meng Gaonkar from Sanguem in the past.

It would be pertinent to point out that Canacona Taluka where the ST electorate has been sizeable has not always elected a person from this community as its MLA. Non ST MLAs from Canacona Taluka have been Jagdish Acharya, Isidore Fernandes and Vijay Pai Khot.