Manohar Parrikar’s hangover with Goa has not ended. Over the past two days he has been addressing party workers in towns going to the municipal polls and exhorting the people to vote for candidates backed by the party.
While the opposition has raised its eyebrows on this, the BJP defended the defence minister’s municipal campaign. State unit president Vinay Tendulkar said, “Parrikar is in Goa for Dussehra and not campaigning. Since he is here he is guiding the workers. He is not having any public meetings or anything. Even if he does I see nothing wrong as he is defence minister in Delhi but in Goa he is a grassroots leader,” he said.
But that hasn’t gone down well with the opposition, which feels the minister has brought down the dignity of the post.
NCP spokesperson Trajano D’Mello said. “Never in past has a Union Defence Minister participated in municipal polls campaign even if it was on party lines. This is a shame for the country.”
Agreeing, Congress general secretary Sunil Kawthankar said, “If Parrikar was just a BJP leader then there wouldn’t have been any issue but he being the Union defence minister this does not suit his position. This clearly shows a complete failure of the BJP government and of the people losing their trust in the party,” he said.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai too saw this as a mark of desperation on the part of the BJP and termed as ridiculous the fact that a minister of such stature has to reduce himself to campaign for municipal elections in a State.
The opposition sees this as a loss of faith by the BJP in their own leadership. Kawthnakar added, “Not only people but the local leadership has also lost faith in itself and hence they have got Parrikar to campaign to gain people’s confidence. This is shame to see that when serious issues are happening at the border the defence minister is busy in local politics.”
Responding to queries on why he needed the defence minister in Fatorda to campaign for his candidates, BJP Margao Development Front convenor and former Fatorda MLA Damu Naik said there was nothing wrong with BJP leaders offering support to the campaign and criticized his rival’s political tactics.
He spoke of how in the last municipal election, then chief minister Digambar Kamat along with ministers Churchill Alemao, Aleixo Sequeira and Babu Azgaonkar had campaigned for their candidates.
Tendulkar had the last word saying, Parrikar is a son of Goa first. “Whatever you may say at the end he is a Goan leader,” Tendulkar said.
