It is either a brave face against anti-incumbency to showcase the “success” of its government or the apprehension factor at work, that in some seats, replacing the sitting MLA would lead to rebellion and nuisance value, with the MGP waiting to snap up any BJP reject.
Of course there are several important and contentious seats, with senior sitting MLAs that are yet to be finalised, and we will address those too.
It is evident that in the first list of 21 seats finalised, controversy ridden ministers and MLAs have been retained as a fail-safe strategy. Look at Dayanand Mandrekar in Siolim for instance. This is unrest among sections of the cadre against him. There is a complaint being pursued by a lady against the minister, for being the apparent cause of depression and suicide of her husband and father-in-law. But the BJP doesn’t want to take the risk of antagonising Mandrekar.
In Saligao, Tourism minister Dilip Parulekar, whose name is on the list of candidates, to be presented to the BJP parliamentary board, is currently under investigation into the Serula land grab case where he is the main accused. 599 sqm of prime land at Porvorim was allotted to him at a pittance when the value was more than a crore. An IFR wih the following sections have been filed Sections 119 (public servant concealing design to commit offence, which is his duty to prevent), 120 (concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment), and Section 420 (cheating), read with Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
Meanwhile non-performing ministers Mahadev Naik, and Milind Naik are set to get tickets again making it clearly evident that merit will take a back seat. Herald has done a series of investigations into the rampant irregularities in the Power department with serious allegations of the Minister Naik, sitting on critical files for load sanctions for months and years for very obvious reasons. BJP’s inside sources admit that Milind Naik has been a complete liability for the government because of the manner in which he ran the power department, and yet he is on that list.
But in a bull ring where winning matters and with MGP gnawing at BJP’s heels, safety first has been BJP’s mantra.
But its problems may not be over yet. Senior MLAs in some key constituencies are on the verge of being replaced and if that is done, rebellion is expected, barring Pernem where minister Rajendra Arlekar is unlikely to go against the party even if he is dropped from the candidate list. But the possibility of Arlekar being dropped looks very unlikely given his seniority. But in Mayem, Anant Shet is unlikely to give up without a fight. The supporters of the current Speaker of the Goa Assembly, Shet, travelled to Panjim and gheraoed party functionaries, demanding a ticket for him. The BJP, it is learnt is planning to break another Congressman Pravin Zantye and give him the Mayem ticket instead of Shet.
Similarly in Sanvordem, Ganesh Gaonkar, the sitting MLA is as good as dropped with state party President Vinay Tendulkar, likely to contest. Gaonkar too is unlikely to sit at home if that happens, and could contest either as an independent or on any other party ticket. And the proverbial Damocles sword hangs over Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar, as the race for the Canacona ticket has narrowed down to him and potential Congress defector Vijay Pai Khot.
Will the ‘safety’ of these seats be guaranteed if these changes happen? The next few days will tell all.
