Team Herald
PANJIM: The game of thrones in Goa is well and truly on. Within hours of Manohar Parrikar’s funeral being conducted, the BJP finalised Pramod Sawant as the next Chief Minister of Goa, after key ally Goa forward party agreed to the decision after tough negotiations. Vijai Sardesai of Goa Forward will be the Deputy Chief Minister.
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In another significant development Maharashtrawadi Gomantak party ( MGP) split with 2 MLA’s of the three, breaking away. They are likely to join the BJP. If that happens, the BJPs strength will go upto 14, drawing level with the Congress which also has 14 MLAs.
If they don’t and yet back the BJP, it will add to the strength of the coalition
MGPs defacto leader Sudin Dhavlikar, who wanted to be CM, fell out with the BJP as well as two MLAs of his own party Dipak Pauskar & Babu Azgaonkar who have broken away and will back the BJP
Earlier, Even as Manohar Parrikar’s body lay in state at the Kala Academy in Panjim, the nerve centre for art, culture, music, films and theatre, the political theatre was played out before Goa’s next Chief Minister could be picked
His flower bedecked body then moved out of the Kala Academy and headed towards the Miramar beach for his last rites. There was be a suspension of politicking as Goans as well as the entire top brass of the BJPs national leadership led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended his state funeral with full military honours.
Parrikar’s eldest son Utpal Parrikar lit his funeral pyre and thousands of the people flocked to the Miramar beach, where Parrikar’s last journey ended and his last rites were conducted amidst the breathtaking backdrop of the setting sun on the Arabian sea. Manohar Parrikar finally bid goodbye to the land he loved, the soil he worshipped and the people of Goa he lived for
Outside Kala Academy and Miramar, in rooms of five star resorts and in homes of senior politicians, the political theatre was well and truly being scripted, and played out. No political transition in Goa is simple. Even though Parrikar’s prolonged battle with cancer had given enough time for the BJP to prepare for transition. But you can never be prepared in advance. When the time came, after Goa’s tallest son passed away into eternity; Goa’s eternal political problems surfaced, primarily within parties.
Even as the former Goa Chief Minister’s last journey was being undertaken, key ally and former TCP Minister Vijay Sardesai said “There has been no decision as yet in the Goa CM. A decision will be taken after the funeral of Manohar Parrikar”
Deputy Speaker and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo “More or less, the decision on Goa CM is finalised but it needs some fine tuning”. There is often a big slip between “more or less”, and fine tuning is a process that may take infinite time. But time isn’t quite a luxury the BJP in Goa has.
Senior Union Minister Nitin Gadkari,hoped a decision would be arrived at by then, by time Parrikar’s funeral will be over. Mr Gadkari earlier told reporters “I’m in Goa till 6 pm and it would be better if we zero down to a consensus before that. BJP has decided who should be their leader, the issue is only with alliance partners”
That was not to be. Amidst a deadlock, Nitin Gadkari and BJP president Amit Shah started a meeting at Cidade de Goa hotel after Parrikar’s funeral, till a final decision on the Cm and Dy CM was reached
Since last evening , post Mr Parrikar’s passing away, the hunt for his successor commenced.
Flashback; last 48 hours
Herald recounts what transpired within the ruling party and the two allies, the Goa Forward Party and the MGP in the last 48 hours
INSIDE BJP
Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik was the first choice of the BJP at the centre. When this name was proposed both the MGP as well as the Goa Forward opposed this. The choice of Shripad Naik was made keeping his mind his seniority. If this was accepted, then former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who lost from Mandrem would have been the front runner for the North Goa Lok Sabha seat.
When this wasn’t working out, Speaker and Sanquelim MLA Pramod Sawant became the front runner, Known for being soft spoken and non controversial, Sawant has been pitch-forked in the front runners position, with the hope that the MGP and the Goa Forward would accept him. It is learnt that the Goa Forward Party still hasn’t green lighted this move but a decision is expected shortly
However Nitin Gadkari played tough and indicated that if BJP’s final choice for CM is not accepted, the party would not hesitate to ensure that the Assembly is dissolved or kept in suspended animation. Importantly, the BJP also needed to take each of its own party MLAs on board since at least one Minister Vishwajit Rane nursed a burning ambition to be CM.
How the DIGGU factor fizzled out
Meanwhile, the very concerted move of the BJP to break Margao MLA and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat came a cropper when the party rank and file reacted very sharply when this move was floated within the party, after the core committee seemed favorable to the move. By the time Kamat reached Delhi, notwithstanding all his denials to the effect, to finalise his move, the backlash from the rank and file an even sections of the party’s senior leadership forced the party to hold it. Moreover the news of Mr Parrikar’s passing, shifted focus from the move completely
INSIDEMGP
Sudin Dhavlikar the evergreen CM in waiting staked his own claim to be Chief Minister stating that he has “sacrificed a lot”. Dhavlikar had a standing offer from the BJP to become CM only if he joins the BJP. However it became clear that two MLAs, Tourism Minister Babu Azgaonkar and Sanvordem MLA Deepak Pauskar were not necessarily with him and even vulnerable to a poaching attempt by other parties including the BJP. This time around though, Dhavlikar, inspite of his closeness to Nitin Gadkari, didn’t getting the traction he needs to fulfill his desperate attempt to be CM and was finally left out in the cold
Intially, the MGP central committee which met immediately after Parrikar’s funeral, gave a “blank cheque” to Sudin Dhavlikar to support “any national party” on the condition that three cabinet berths and three corporations are given to the MGP.
The possibility of divisions in the MGP camp appeared high as late evening 2 MGP MLAs Deepak Pauskar and Babu Azgaonkar arrived at Cidade de Goa to meet BJP president Amit Shah and minister Gadkari. Sudin Dhavlikar did not arrive with them
INSIDE GOA FORWARD
Goa Forward’s Vijai Sardesai had adopted a wait and watch approach for long not wanting to upset any applecart. The party has maintained all along that it supported a Parrikar led government and is exercising its right to weigh all options before committing to a new BJP ruled dispensation. But it was unlikely that the GF will be too rigid in its approach and prevent government formation and risk dissolution of the Assembly. Vijai Sardesai told reporters that a final decision will be taken after Parrikar’s funeral. Finally the Goa Forward continued to back the BJP government and emerged stronger with Sardesai getting the Deputy Chief Ministership, a big promotion clearly making him a power centre
INSIDE Congress
The Congress has met the governor and staked claim to form the government, claiming rightly, that it is the single largest party in the Assembly with 14 MLAs to BJP’s 12. The BJP is aware of this and therefore doesn’t want to delay naming their CM and getting support of the allies.
The Congress went on an overdrive today making at least two trips to Raj Bhavan, first to stake claim and the second to “remind the governor” of their request to be alwoed to stake claim. Leader of the opposition Babu Kavlekar, said late evening on Monday “By not appointing CM BJP has no leadership in Goa. The Goa governor is facilitating horse trading”.
The Congress once again lost out as it failed to get allies to back them, leaving them both friendless and powerless.
Here is the link of the 2 earlier versions of this story: https://heraldgoa.in/Goa/
https://heraldgoa.in/Goa/
