Team Herald
PANJIM: The game of thrones in Goa is well and truly on. 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 has moved out of the Kala Academy and headed towards the Miramar beach for his last rites. There will 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 will attend his state funeral with full military honours
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, who is in Goa till 6 pm hopes a decision would be arrived at by then, by time Parrikar’s funeral will be over. Mr Gadkari 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”
Since last evening , post Mr Parrikar’s passing away, the hunt for his successor commenced. Here is what transpired within the ruling party and the two allies, the Goa Forward Party and the MGP
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 is playing tough and has clearly 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 needs to take each of its own party MLAs on board since at least one Minister Vishwajit Rane nurses 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 has a standing offer from the BJP to become CM only if he joins the BJP. However there is a twist here. His two MLAs, Tourism Minister Babu Azgaonkar and Sanvordem MLA Deepak Pauskar are 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, isn’t quite getting the traction he needs to fulfill his desperate attempt to be CM.
At the same time the MGP, when it comes to collectively supporting the BJP’s choice for CM hasn’t quite agreed to other names propped up by the ruling party including Pramod Sawant.
INSIDE GOA FORWARD
Goa Forward’s Vijai Sardesai has 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 is unlikely that the GF will be too rigid in its approach and prevent government formation and risk dissolution of the Assembly
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.
Here is the link of the earlier version of this story: https://heraldgoa.in/Goa/
