It all started on February 14, after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar after chairing the cabinet meeting suddenly fell ill with stomach ache, which was initially considered to be food-poisoning. But to the worst nightmare of Mr Parrikar and so also all Goans, the matter turned out to be more serious or “mild pancreatitis” as we are given to understand. However the seriousness of his medical condition is still a mystery. Through the week that the Chief Minister was hospitalised in Mumbai, the BJP was all at sea, not quite knowing what to do.
As a knee-jerk reaction, the BJP hurriedly decided to call for curtailing a month-long budget session, nervous that it it’s MLAs and ministers wouldn’t quite be able to handle the rigours of a month long session without he Chief Minister. Yes, that’s true, the party does not or hasn’t built the second rung of leadership after Parrikar. Those in the fray to occupy the second rung are UD Minister Francis D’Souza, Union Minister Shripad Naik, MP Narendra Sawaikar but none are ready fill Manohar Parrikar’s shoes. In fact his return to Goa in 2017, giving up the Defence Minister’s position was the political tsunami which wiped out the entire top leadership of the BJP in the polls Laxmikant Parsekar, Rajendra Arlekar Dayanad Mandrekar Dilip Parulekar, Kiran Khandolkar Mahadev Naik and Subhash Phaldesai were all decimated.
For now, Mr Parrikar is back in Goa, and there are signs he may even pick up pace at work. But it’s a good time to ensure that the foundation of the party is strong and it has a second rung of leadership. And this is where the alarm bells ring Even in 2014, when Parrikar was called for national duty as Defence Minister, the BJP despite having a clear majority in the Assembly did not have a leader who take over right away and Laxmikant Parsekar was considered to be a consensus candidate. It is pertinent to note here, three ministers Vishwajit Rane, Mauvin Godinho and Pandurang Madkaikar, are former Congressman, who joined the party just before or after polls. The BJP’s senior faces include Union minister Shripad Naik, state chief and Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar and South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar.
However, despite being a eligible candidate, Shripad Naik has been sidelined for long and it is clear that he does not quite fit the bill when it comes to selecting a leader to lead the party through the next generation of people in Goa His entry into Goan politics in 2012, wherein he wanted to contest from Porvorim, met a abrupt end whe he was denied an Assembly ticket Francis D’Souza has been suffering from ill health himself for quite sometime the BJP does not want to see him as the future leader.
Besides other senior leaders do not have a constituency of their own. Francis D’Souza, who was declared BJP’s legislature wing leader does not agree with this presumption and says the BJP definitely has leaders and there is no question of survival but what he says only goes to strengthen the theory that there is no one to take the baton from Mr Parrikar as and when that situation arises “There is nothing like what you say. Parrikar has been the face of BJP in Goa and we all respect him as our leader he has been the pillar of party so the emotional attachment is there,” he said. D’Souza said “Only the budget session has been shortened as the CM is not well. There is no need to make big issue out of this,’’ said Francis D’Souza. But Leader of the Opposition Babu Kavlekar quips “the show must go on and the state government has to run. But what happens if for some reason Parrikar has to take a long break?’’
The BJP though needs to answer this question not only from the point of view of immediate governance but the long term strengthening of the party.
