PANJIM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be quite serious about considering winnable and performing candidates. The ruling party’s election strategy session has begun and its election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis’ visits to Goa will be more often.
Sources said in one-on-one meet with legislators, ministers and other leaders, there was no discussion on the allocation of party tickets as this decision lies with the Parliamentary Board. However, the central point of the overall discussion was performance of the sitting MLAs including that of the 10 ex-Congress MLAs who defected to BJP in 2019.
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“We basically discussed strategy. The ideas that we have in our mind and the plan that he has in his mind on how to go about in the run up to the polls were discussed. What requires to be done, what is the roadmap to get majority seats, all this was discussed,” said Mauvin Godinho, one of those few leaders who met Fadnavis at a starred hotel in the capital city.
Asked if the meeting had discussions about the performance of the party, Godinho said, “They know of everything.”
Sources said the party is firm not to compromise on the performance of its leaders including the ministers. “Performance and their connection with the people from all walks of life are the striking factors. During each meeting, our leaders gave an overview of their work in their respective constituency, response from the people, etc while the ministers’ performance was also evaluated. The party is simultaneously conducting a separate survey that will also comprise of all the factors to ensure BJP’s victory,” the source said.
Besides Godinho, Michael Lobo, Deepak Pauskar, Carlos Almeida, Siddhart Kunkalienkar and Utpal Parrikar were amongst those who met Fadnavis. Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and party President Sadanand Shet Tanavade’s meeting happened during the late hours, before Fadnavis flew back to Mumbai early Wednesday morning to resume his work there.
There were also leaders who didn’t get a chance to meet the BJP’s senior leader from Maharashtra. Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar was among those. “I was not there for the meeting. If there is anything official to be discussed, I will meet him,” the minister said speaking to Herald.
Sources further said that some underperforming ticket aspirants could be sidelined irrespective of their present position in the government or the party. In probably a first, BJP has found many ticket aspirants from each constituency.
“Party’s Parliamentary Board will decide which candidate will contest the upcoming polls. Fadnavis will be preparing a report based on his meetings and ground study. It will be in addition to the ongoing survey, all of which will be submitted to the party superiors. Performing and winnable candidate will get the ticket,” he said.
It is also learnt that the ruling party is evaluating the work of 10 MLAs who defected to BJP two and half years ago. At the same time, some of the constituencies in South Goa where BJP has not been able to open an account are being seriously looked into. “A strong candidate is needed in these constituencies. The party might even back Independent in selected areas if needed, although not officially,” he said.
