MGP is, officially, no longer a party which protects OBC interests

The controversy over Vishnu Wagh’s collection of 62 poems, Sudir Sukta purportedly aimed at castigating the brahminical order and hegemony which has sparked off a discourse over the space and width that should be accorded for literary opposition to perceive social biases, brings us to a very interesting political cross road.

The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, built on the foundation of marginalised backward castes, but led by a Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar who mastered the art of inclusion of harmony and progress, was in power for over 15 years. From December 20, 1963 to January 16, 1980, there was no other party which ruled Goa. The state was under President’s rule for brief periods that MGP was out of power during this era, once in 1966 (124 days) and in 1979 (264 days). And then from 2000 to 2017, (barring periods of President’s rule) the MGP has been a part of almost every ruling dispensation and continues to be now.

Given this backdrop, it is surprising at one level that the party has chosen to completely distance itself from the underlying attrition between the Bahujan Samaj and the Brahmins over a lot of prickly issues that need closure and solution. The Bahujan Samaj, also over the years, in spite of its inherent issues, hasn’t quite voted vociferously in favour of one party or against another. But the BJP has often appropriated the support of the samaj and over time has had several leaders of the samaj on key positions in the party. The MGP, given is nascent ideology and background, should have been the party of first choice for the political and social consolidation of the Bahujan Samaj of Goa. It is clearly not so.

The irony and perhaps the tragedy of its failure to be the party of choice for OBCs, is reflected in the fact that even the conflicts between the samaj and the upper castes seem to be within the BJP. And importantly these conflicts have never threatened to create any divide or cause any serious political turmoil within the BJP even though the build up has been serious in localised areas like Marcaim. In February 2016, Bahujan Samaj villagers of Marcaim, decided to up the ante against the long standing tradition of the upper caste Mahajans having the control and access to the sanctum sanctorum of temples. The one who led the backward caste protests was the same BJP MLA from St Andre Vishnu Wagh. And see the irony here. The mahajans who were clearly on the other side of the fence facing the ire of the Bahujan samaj, were backed by the current MGP leadership of Sudin and Deepak Dhavalikar. The party was clearly in the grip of a family of temple priests who have clearly not inspired the confidence of Goa’s Bahujan Samaj, thereby giving the latter no place to gravitate, in case they wanted to move out of the BJP fold.

Therefore when OBC crusaders like Vishnu Wagh took up backward caste causes either in speech or verse, this was never at the cost of moving away from the party, though it appeared on occasions that he would do so. And when he suffered a heart attack and was clearly out of politics, it was his kin, Ramrao Wagh who got the St Andre ticket in the Assembly elections.

In the same elections, another very interesting phenomenon happened. At least for a brief period of time when the Aam Aadmi Party was on the upswing, there was indeed a possibility of the Bahujan Samaj, in some places breaking ranks and supporting AAP. While this shift obviously did not happen, it reflected a sense of growing unease among these sections. And since the Congress did not initially inspire confidence, with very few expecting them to get the 17 seats that they did, the expression of interest of the Bahujan Samaj towards AAP assumed significance. The reality was that in the end sections of the OBC vote, which wasn’t firmly with the BJP, did gravitate to the Congress in some of the constituencies, Taleigao being one such seat. But this vote did not polarise in favour of the MGP. Nor did it go MGP’s pre poll ally the Goa Suraksha Manch, born completely out of the demand to deny grants to English medium primary schools.

Even as the debate over the totally unfair FIR filed against Wagh for his writings and the cancellation of Konkani literary awards, believed to be over Wagh’s work, Sudir Sukta, the MGP finds itself almost irrelevant and totally out of the picture as a party which once upon a time was synonymous with protecting OBC interests.