The decision of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) to contest the ensuing by-elections at Shiroda will place a further strain on the coalition government that is already bending under its own weight. The regional party, that plays a key role in the coalition government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has decided to field it party president, Pandurang (Deepak) Dhavalikar, in the constituency and he will likely face Subhash Shirodkar of the BJP, who in October quit from the Congress and his membership of the Legislative Assembly and joined the party in government. Dhavalikar has made clear his intentions and launched his campaign. And with that, the other coalition partner – Goa Forward Party – calling it a significant development, has said it will take a call once the election dates are announced.
This will be one political fight that will be keenly watched by observers as it pitchforks into battle two alliance partners in a scuffle for one-upmanship and jostling to retain a hold on the taluka and an opposition party that will be desperate to win back the constituency it had won in 2017. MGP fields a heavyweight – its party president and a former minister – in Shiroda to take on another former minister, who has recently changed sides. The Congress candidate is still unknown, but MGP’s entry into the battlefield gives the opposition party a fighting chance to retain the seat and it could not have asked for more after it lost its most popular face in the constituency to the BJP.
This by-election will also have some repercussions on the government. BJP does not have the numbers in the Assembly and relies on the regional parties to stay in power. This was one manner of consolidating its position as the larger party in the coalition. Though MGP may claim that the party entering the fray will not have any effect on the coalition, it is unlikely that the BJP will accept meekly that its attempt to increase its strength in the Assembly is being jeopardised by an ally. It is even plausible that the national party may in the weeks ahead prevail upon its regional ally to withdraw from the fray. That, however, will place a question on the MGP’s seriousness in seeking the disqualification of the two Congress MLAs who resigned in October and joined the BJP.
This act also appears to be an attempt by the MGP to prove that its petition in the High Court of Bombay at Goa was not merely a move to play to the galleries, but that it means serious business. It has lost that petition, with the high court ordering it to pay costs and passing strictures against the party. Taking a serious view, the High Court had placed on record its displeasure on the filing petitions by political parties with a view to achieve their political objectives and usurping the precious time of the Court. At that time, Herald in this column had said that for the MGP the best possible opportunity to ensure that what it considers as an ‘immoral’ act of the MLAs does not get them rewarded by being re-elected to the Legislative Assembly would come up at the time of the by-polls.
The by-elections will prove that the partners in this government came together not out of ideological conviction but merely to gain power, and they will continually try to prove their worth in the coalition over the other. While it appears that it is going to be an open season in Shiroda, the situation in Mandrem – the constituency where the other by-poll is due – may not be very different. It is just a matter of time, before the claimants to that seat make a public appearance.
