At a time when the beleaguered Chief Minister is fighting a losing battle in the midst of rapidly falling popularity, the announcement by party president Vinay Tendulkar that Parsekar will lead the party in 2017, looks like a spot of ‘match fixing’ to help the Chief Minister tide over this phase.
This announcement assumes significance, in the context of the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s comment less than a week ago at a public function: “If Goa Govt is not on the right track, I’ll put it on the right track”, a clear indication that he is and wants to be in control of Goa’s management, a task he considers far more enjoyable and powerful, than his current job of Defence Minister where he plays second or third fiddle to PM Modi and his inner coterie of ministers.
Internally, most MLAs, especially the independent MLAs from Salcete and Rohan Khaunte of Porvorim, had supported a Parrikar-led government. In fact Rohan Khuante’s letter of support states that his support was specific to the Manohar Parrikar led government. The mandate on the basis of which Parsekar rules, was Manoahr Parrikar’s mandate, not his.
On the other hand, each of the BJP MLAs, owe their victories to the anti-Congress wave, during which Manohar Parrikar stood out as a credible alternative. If Vinay Tendulkar takes a poll of all BJP MLAs and those supporting the government, he will find there are very few takers for the Mandrem MLA as CM, for an unlikely next term.
State President Vinay Tendulkar’s announcement is surprising for another reason. According to a recent professional grassroots survey, conducted by the BJP, across 29 constituencies on who the next Chief Minister, across party lines, should be, Manohar Parrikar came on tops with 54% of those surveyed backing him, with Pratapsingh Rane (surprisingly) coming a distant second with 9%. Laxmikant Parsekar got just 7%. According to inside sources within the BJP, he is not the first choice as CM candidate by a long shot yet. Undoubtedly, this could change closer to the elections for whatever reason, but that is not the case now.
Announcing its CM’s candidate can be foolhardy and can alienate others in the party with aspirations, like Rajendra Arlekar and Francis D Souza. What is needed now is to win back some of the lost ground, take people friendly decisions like giving the State a just, people-centric Regional Plan, announcing its MoI policy with grants to English medium schools, pull back from supporting real estate sharks and mining barons, take decisions which are people friendly, make the police force more humane and not go after senior citizens and at the same time allow honest officers probing corruption to work freely.
Laxmikant Parsekar needs the people of Goa to want him to be their next Chief Minister and not bank on the likes of Vinay Tendulkar to put him on the road back to “Mahalakshmi”, the CM’s official residence.
