PANJIM: BJP MLAs who have hit the ground running in the run up to the 2017 elections, clearly communicated to their supreme boss, their National President Amit Shah that an alliance with the MGP is non-negotiable and needs to be settled quickly. According to sources present for this meeting, BJP MLAs said that the MGP has not just begun preparations in the three constituencies they now control but in many other constituencies, including those held by the BJP. They were emphatic that this needs closure, as the utmost priority, for the alliance to have a shot at power in 2017.
The mood in the MLAs’ meeting, which followed a large scale meeting of BJP workers, was somber and serious, a change from the workers meeting where Shah declared that the BJP would target and win 27 seats.
Shah met the MLAs at Dona Paula to take stock of the situation ahead of the polls. “We told Shah that the current alliance with MGP should continue even in future. The party should be quick to take a decision on it,” Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza told reporters emerging from the meeting.
Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Goa BJP President Vinay Tendulkar also attended the meeting.
Earlier, kicking off the 2017 election campaign at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium at Taleigao, Shah declared that the party will win 27 seats in the upcoming polls and that this will lay the foundation for BJP’s victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Shah, addressing nearly 5000-odd karyakartas, said that the party did politics of performance. “Whenever BJP has come to power, the party workers have the capability to retain the same.”
“BJP on its own will win 27 seats. In 2012, we came to power with 21 seats and now in 2017, we have to win not less than 27 seats,” Shah said addressing his first meeting with booth workers after taking over as president for the second term earlier this year.
Shah who was on a one-day visit to the State to launch the party’s election campaign said, “The year 2017 is very important for the party. There are elections in the States like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Goa. Through these elections we want to have transformation in the country. We want to have development in the country. We should be in power from panchayat to parliament,” Shah stated.
Shah also announced that the Modi-led government has sanctioned Rs 14,940 crore under the 14th finance commission.
The BJP leader took a jibe at Congress, which is looking at the Goa election to revamp party’s lost glory after a series of defeats in various State elections. “The Congress in the recent past has lost in all the States. Now they are eyeing Goa. Do you think they will be able to win in Goa?” Shah questioned the workers evoking a negative response from them.
The BJP president then turned his focus on Defence Minister Parrikar. He said, “Though Goa is a small State it has given BJP a big leader like Parrikar. Parrikar has been very successful as Defence Minister under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
On a lighter note, Shah said, “Even if he (Parrikar) is now elevated to Delhi, his mind is always busy thinking about Goa. Whenever you go to his official residence in Delhi, you will find authentic Goan food with cashew nuts being served,” he said.
