ALDONA/MAPUSA/CALANGUTE: “Did we lack in transparency, competency or loyalty that Bardez was ignored and South Goa got twin ministerial berths?” asks twice-elected Aldona MLA Glen Souza Ticlo who was promised a ministerial berth by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar earlier on in this term.
Ticlo’s supporters are shocked that their MLA was shortchanged. The absence of any BJP MLA from Bardez in the cabinet has stunned many BJP supporters and party workers. And its implication would be far-reaching and serious in the election year.
The dropping of Mapusa MLA Francis D’Souza from the State cabinet could well be a rash decision that BJP High Command has taken. D’Souza who was once the Deputy Chief Minister, and even seen as an heir apparent to Parrikar (despite being the most visible minority leader in Goa BJP), fell from grace to occupy the fourth position and thereafter been shown the door.
His words “Finally, they did it. Today they have dropped me from the cabinet. Tomorrow they will remove me from the party, if I am useless for them,” immediately after his removal – speaks volumes.
As a senior BJP MLA, as well as a figurehead for the minority MLAs in the Hindutva-based BJP, D’Souza was always seen as a level-headed politician up North. With his removal, BJP now has no Minister of its own in Bardez and Pernem.
D’Souza’s jibe, “This is the reward I am getting for my loyalty to the party for the last 20 years,” is being seen by Catholic MLAs in Bardez and their supporters as abandoning them. His removal from the Cabinet is also seen as unpalatable by party members.
A senior BJP leader said the BJP High Command has shot itself in the foot by removing D’Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar on health grounds when the Chief Minister himself is badly off too. “How can you use double standards in health for the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues, allowing the CM to function from a hospital bed but sacking others who may be equally if not more ill than him,” said the leader.
And the silence is deafening. “I don’t want to comment,” said a miffed Calangute MLA Michael Lobo who has always been at the forefront of flaunting the formidability of his party and defending its actions more vocally than the rest. Party insiders confirm that Lobo was never in contention for any Ministerial berth despite D’Souza’s illness as far as BJP seniors are concerned. There was explicit diktat of not considering him for anything else other than Deputy Speaker’s position.
Meanwhile, Aldona’s Ticlo isn’t taking this in his stride. “This isn’t about giving me or Lobo or Babush (Francis) a Cabinet berth. It is about taking Bardez for granted despite giving the party three hard-fought seats with comfortable margins,” said a normally quiet Ticlo.
The crisis within the BJP will affect more than the fragile headless coalition, it will singe the poll prospects of BJP in North Goa too where these three BJP MLAs electorates make a difference.
