The gloves seem to be officially off. The MGP is making a serious push at power – irrespective of what its realistic chances are, by going on the front foot with its pan Goan membership drive. The alliance between them and the BJP has quite clearly reached its nadir with both sides now openly speaking against each other. In Ponda, Madcaim and Priol – MGP ruled constituencies – it’s war.
On Monday, an interesting development happened. A BJP panch from the Volvoi-Priol panchayat left the party and joined the MGP with 25 of his supporters. In the grand scale of things, this perhaps isn’t even a blip, but in the politics of Ponda, it’s an important bout of muscle flexing. The manner in which MGP presented this development, with a press conference in Panjim, chaired by its party president Deepak Dhavlikar and Ponda MLA Lavoo Mamlatdar was disproportionate to the scale of the event. But it clearly signified that the MGP was onto a different game. It has decided to play this in the open, welcome defectors from the BJP and clearly go to town with its singular agenda, of going it alone in the next elections.
The MGP is also secure in the knowledge that the BJP cannot afford to drop its ministers from the cabinet and risk an MGP pullout. Its pogrom of making members across 40 constituencies is ambitious but politically savvy. The BJP isn’t very amused. In Ponda, the epicenter of this war, the BJP complains that it has been at the receiving end of the Dhavlikars’ power flexing. Here’s an example. In Madcaim, an ex sarpanch of a village and a supporter of Congressman Ravi Naik, has of late been leaning towards the BJP. He has had to pay the price with his water tanker business getting severely affected with his water tankers seized regularly by the RTO (which is a part of Sudhin Dhavlikar’s Transport department)
There are reports that some schools in Madcaim, whose heads are not MGP supporters are having a tough time getting the PWD to carry out repairs and maintenance of their buildings. These are minor collateral damages, ravages of this political war. And we all know who is the minister for PWD.
In the larger canvas of Goa, what does this signify and will it have any other fallout? Firstly, the BJP has more reason to be worried than the MGP because the latter has very little to lose and everything to gain. Any expansion of its base beyond Ponda taluka which may translate to votes will damage the BJP first if both contest independently. Moreover there is a certain fence sitting section within the BJP which owes its loyalty completely to Manohar Parrikar, and this section is uncomfortable in this dispensation. One must understand that the BJP too is undergoing a transformation, or actually receiving a Ghar Wapsi injection, going back to a hard line extreme right wing party it once was This is bound to create organisational ripples within.
The MGP has a much clearer path because the erstwhile Congress supporter who voted for the BJP in 2012 may not want to return to the Congress and is looking for a regional alternative.
The MGP, on the other hand has to do very little to get the traditional but disgruntled BJP supporter who wants to move into its fold, because this supporter will not go back to the Congress at any rate.
At the moment, the battle is limited to the central Goa talukas of Ponda Dharbandora and perhaps parts of Sanguem. But it could intensify, especially if the MGP does what it has promised – keep its doors open for all.
