PANJIM: Claiming to be the ‘elder brother’ in the state coalition government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday indicated that any seat sharing with alliance partner Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) for the 2017 assembly elections will depend entirely on BJP.
BJP president Vinay Tendulkar said, “We do have a coalition with MGP at present but whether it will continue or will be discontinued for the 2017 polls will be decided a month before the election.”
Stating that it is up to the BJP to decide on the coalition, Tendulkar said, “We are the elder brother. The terms and conditions should suit our party. Recently we have heard our colleague Lavoo (Mamledar) demanding more seats but that will depend on us. We need to see whether their demands are worth,” he said.
The BJP-MGP alliance had successfully fought the 2012 state assembly polls winning 24 out of the 40 seats. However, recently differences have arisen between the two, with BJP MLAs and grassroots workers openly expressing their apprehensions over the continued alliance with MGP.
Reacting to this, MGP had said they would contest the polls alone, if BJP does not want them.
Gearing up for the 2017 polls, BJP will hold constituency-wise training camps for its workers beginning August, wherein the cadres would be trained on the party’s ideology, and instructed of its achievements at the state and centre and what BJP stands for. During the recent membership drive, BJP enrolled 4.28 lakh members.
The constituency training camps, as a part of a nationwide camp, will be followed by camps at the district and state level.
“Nearly 4500 workers will be trained during this period,” Tendulkar said adding that post the camps, elections will be held to appoint block and district committees.
“The new party president will be elected by December this year,” he said. Sources said the party will reappoint Tendulkar to the post for a second term.
Cabinet expansion after monsoon session
The ruling BJP cleared the air on the much-talked about cabinet expansion stating that the vacant cabinet berth would be filled after the monsoon session of the State legislative assembly.
“There is no chance of a cabinet expansion before the assembly session. It would be done only after the session,” BJP chief Vinay Tendulkar said. The monsoon session begins on July 27 and will conclude on August 14.
One post is vacant in the 11-member cabinet following the resignation of former Minister Francisco (Miccky) Pacheco, who is currently serving time in jail after being found guilty of slapping a government servant.
There has been speculation that BJP legislators Vishnu Wagh or Nilesh Cabral may be considered for the vacant cabinet berth.
