There are clear signals emanating from the BJP in Goa that its cart of contentious issues is getting filled to the brim. The BBSM, continued with its anti-government surge and took to the streets showing black flags to the Chief Minister on his birthday for not reverting grants to English medium schools and rephrasing its education policy to allow for education grants only for Konkani and Marathi schools.
However this is unlikely to be the only albatross around its neck. In its effort to cut down potential areas of dissent, it has communicated to Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza, that his political career may well be cut short. In fact it may actually well be over, if the likelihood of he being sent as the Governor of a large state like UP or Maharashtra fructifies. The fact that D’Souza has been sounded out was confirmed from sources in Delhi and from other sections within the party, while the Deputy Chief Minister himself has maintained both ignorance and silence on the issue.
This will serve two purposes. Firstly the group of minority MLAs, who have the potential of forming an independent pressure group will not have a senior leader. This group, under the informal leadership of D’Souza has MLAs Michael Lobo, Glen Ticlo, Benjamin Silva and Caitu Silva. Importantly, all the dissident noises have emanated from this group. D’Souza had objected to the transfer of a senior revenue official from his area without even consulting him as Revenue Minister. And then more recently, the Dy Chief Minister showed his displeasure over the lodging of an FIR against his blue eyed officer Elvis Gomes, in the Housing Board scam. Meanwhile, Lobo has been a very vocal critic of his own government, frequently holding agitations supporting local taxi drivers and shack owners. Lobo also happens to be the only MLA against whom the ruling government has filed an FIR through the Crime Branch for allegedly forging a signature on a Non Objection certificate issued by the CRZ authorities, for a hotel project in which he has a stake. This was followed by Lobo demanding that at least five ministers of the Parsekar cabinet should be dropped if the party wants to win the next elections.
Secondly moving D’Souza away from the election fray will ensure that there is one less claimant for the post of Chief Minister in the event of the BJP actually managing to form a government. The race will be narrowed down to Parsekar and Rajendra Arlekar. It goes without saying that the party doesn’t want to be even near a situation where a minority leader could be on the threshold of staking a claim for the top job.
Meanwhile another remark, dutifully picked up as a news report, may assume significance beyond the obvious. Manohar Parrikar, speaking during Chief Minister Parsekar’s birthday function said that winning the next elections will be Parsekar’s ‘responsibility’. Are we seeing the former Chief Minister taking a step back or two, very cleverly, to shift focus on Parsekar as captain of a sinking ship? Insiders in the BJP mention that with the ground slowly slipping in many constituencies, Mr Parrikar isn’t too keen to front this campaign. He will not be averse though to come in, if a fractured mandate forces post-poll alliances.
However, the Congress hasn’t quite been able to pull off the BJP door which is lose at the hinges. It needs to re-group after a long lull and re-galavanise its workers. It has an added responsibility of re-uniting other opposition forces with a battle ready seriousness, even if this has to be done at the cost of bypassing blocks or party units which are opposing a grand alliance of all anti-BJP local parties or leaders.
