PONDA: With the BJP-MGP alliance heading to the grave, the BJP has dropped hints that Marcaim, the citadel of Sudin Dhavlikar, is up for grabs for the saffron party.
However and much against expectations, the party refrained from announcing its candidate for the Ponda seat stating that its alliance with MGP “is technically intact.”
Addressing the media in the presence of large number of party workers at Marcaim, Taleigao BJP candidate Dattaprasad Naik said that, within 20 day, his party would strengthen its base in Marcaim by establishing booth level committees and would also field a strong candidate at the forthcoming election. “The lotus will bloom in Marcaim this time,” he said.
Naik said that now people wait in long queues at Dhavlikar’s house to avail government schemes, but if the Marcaim voters elected the BJP candidate, all the schemes would come to their doorsteps. “The long queues at Dhavlikar’s house are a proof that he doesn’t care for the people,” he said.
Naik also accused Dhavlikar of failing to take up developmental projects in Marcaim and provide jobs to unemployed youth in the constituency, despite being the PWD minister.
On the occasion, 50 MGP workers joined the BJP and they were formally inducted into the party by Naik. Meanwhile, sources said the BJP is likely to field Pradeep Shet from Marcaim.
Meanwhile, addressing a gathering of 2000 party workers at the Vijay Sankalp rally at Savitri Hall in Curti on Saturday, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said, “There is no shortage of winnable candidates in BJP. But we will not declare our candidate for Ponda now, since the MGP-BJP alliance is technically intact.”
However, he asked the party workers to prepare for the election.
and get the BJP candidate from Ponda. “Ponda will be among the winning seats,” he asserted.
Parrikar said that despite having a clear majority after the 2012 elections, the BJP had given three major portfolios to MGP, but they were not handled properly by the alliance partner. “I lost patience (with the MGP ministers) as I could not fulfil some of my promises (due to their non-cooperation),” he said.
On the occasion, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar justified the sacking of Sudin and his brother Deepak from the Cabinet saying, “they insulted and disrespected the office of the chief minister.”
Claiming that he never differentiated between the constituencies represented by the BJP and the rest while allotting developmental works, Parsekar accused Sudin of giving preference to the constituencies represented by the MGP while clearing payments to PWD contractors.
Giving vent to his anger, the chief minister said, “He (Sudin) always kept pending the payments of contractors who carried out works in other constituencies and falsely blamed me for the same.”
“I maintained patience by following the alliance dharma. But when he crossed the limit, I sacked him,” he said.
