Goans can well heave a sigh of relief!
Having gone government-less for well over two weeks since the election results were announced on March 10, the State was made to do with just a caretaker Chief Minister to handle its day-to-day affairs.
Quite a few speculations thrown up about the unrest brewing within the majority party could also not be ignored considering the difficulty the party was facing in arriving at a consensus on the Chief Ministerial candidate.
When it was more than certain that the BJP had the necessary numbers to form the government, the delay in staking a claim to form one was quite puzzling.
It may have looked like a sarcastic swipe at his detractors, however Pramod Sawant’s claim minutes after being sworn-in as the state’s 14th CM that he is ‘an elected CM this time around and not a selected or accidental one’ serves to be one that comes as a solace after a period of angst over the uncertainties prevailing over the CM choice.
But all is well that ends well – Goa finally has a government in place!
With Sawant pressing the restart button to launch a cent per cent BJP government, things will have to be seen in a different perspective – at least now when the party has emerged as the single largest party after the elections!
Unlike last time when the BJP gained back-door entry through machinations that were totally against the spirit of democracy; and the subsequent ‘poaching’ exercises executed to perfection which completely decimated the Congress; the BJP is on strong footing now.
Even the swearing-in ceremony which for the first time came out of the precincts of the Raj Bhavan to take place on a public platform was supposed to be a saffron extravaganza, from the start to the end.
The swearing-in ceremony of the Dr Pramod Sawant government that had PM Narendra Modi and a host of the other national leaders including the CMs of many BJP-ruled States present at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee indoor stadium was a spectacular show – apparently a demonstration of saffron might!
It is being averred that with a clear mandate, the BJP can well afford to make this into a BJP government and not a BJP-led government.
But actually speaking does the BJP in Goa have anything to be proud off! For that matter how dominant is the BJP in its own backyard!
The presence of two principal players who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party much earlier in 2017 had already established the Congress ‘credentials’ in the saffron camp.
The Goa meltdown reported in 2019 thereafter where ten of the fifteen Congress MLAs tendered their resignation from the party to move en masse to the BJP has only ‘reinforced’ the Congress presence in BJP.
The BJP in its last stint depended solely on the Congress in its camp to get the better of the Congress that was opposing it. The overwhelming Congress presence within the saffron-fold will soon have encumbrances that the party will find difficult to shed.
Let us take the new government equation for instance!
Out of the 20 that the BJP has won, nearly a half the side is made up of legislators who were not originally ‘dyed’ in saffron.
Out of the nine members of the Cabinet including the CM, only two belong originally to the BJP. Out of the eight ministers sworn in, five are ex-Congressmen.
With such an arithmetic it becomes quite baffling to understand the logic behind the claim that this is a BJP government in its pure and pristine form.
As a cadre-based party it is a wonder that the BJP in Goa has not been able to capitalise on the saffron-wave that has consumed the whole country. It is still intent on engineering defections from the Opposition camp to fortify its position.
The recent elections saw BJP cadres vociferously opposing induction of members from other parties. Their nomination as party candidates in various constituencies proved to be the last straw.
The corps of rebels who rose up in rebellion against the entry of ‘aliens’ into the party fold is clearly indicative of the fact that the Lotus can bloom by itself even without the support of the legion of turncoats.
But insisting on the ‘winnability’ criterion, it has been a mad race for scouting fence-sitters from the Congress and other splinter parties to secure it that appears to keep the party honchos busy in the state.
It is as if the BJP in Goa doubts its own credentials as a party that has in it the ability to establish itself firmly in the saddle, so to speak.
It is not that it has lacked trailblazer in its ranks, but ever since the 2017 fiasco, it has been its clear ‘designs’ on enemy ‘generals’ which has helped the BJP to add to its swelling ranks of defectors which has made it appear so ominous.
The very fact that a few non-cadre legislators could stake strong claims for the Chief Minister’s post this time makes it more than obvious that the ranks of ‘imports’ in today’s BJP in Goa portends ill for the saffron camp in any which way one looks at it.
Tomorrow the saffron party in the State could well be staring at a similar scenario where, in an obviously hopeless situation, it would be left wringing its hands in despair. It’s the ‘Yo-yo effect’ in politics!
Yet the BJP in Goa is hopeful and enthusiastic about snaring more legislators from the Opposition camp!
(The author is a freelance writer and a columnist based at Margao)
