Use & Throw. Has this become BJP’s karyakarta policy?

Once upon a time, BJP was a party whose cadres were their backbone. Selfless. Dedicated and servants of one ideology from the lowest worker to the party president, the CM and all ministers. If the BJP in Goa is trying to find the BJP within itself, it is at a loss. All around there are turncoats, defectors and imported leaders. Many of whom are ministers and MLAs in constituencies where they have defeated an original cadre-based BJP member and now bosses over him or her.

And sadly many of them are those who have served the party for ages from workers to ministers through the period when the BJP was nowhere on the scene till the early 2000s and then during the full-fledged BJP government of 2012.

In a bid to overturn the people’s mandate and convert Congress MLAs into BJP MLAs, the party now has the debris of disgruntled senior BJP members and ground-level cadres, who have the party and its ideology in their hearts but don’t have a platform to express themselves.

CADRES & WORKERS ARE DEVOTEES WITHOUT A TEMPLE. WILL THEY EVER  SUPPORT FLY-BY-NIGHT DEFECTORS? 

The writing is clear on the wall. Genuine cadres and workers want leaders who they can look up to, not seasonal ones with self-interest who have been parachuted from other parties and who are open to leaving again when the next best offer comes.

CAN ANY OF THE CONGRESS TURNCOAT MLA FROM BJP WHO WILL GET TICKETS AHEAD OF THE ORIGINAL BJP WORKER/LEADER FACE THE PEOPLE? WILL PEOPLE WHO CAME TO THEM ON WEEKENDS WITH THEIR PROBLEMS AND PETITIONS EVEN LOOK AT THEM?

There is a price to pay for betrayal. And it is more than winning or losing elections. It is about facing the people who have been betrayed. Will they have the faith and trust of the people back? And will they get the support of the party they adopted for their selfish interests? 

AND HOW DO THE GRASSROOTS LEADERS, FORMER MLAS AND MINISTERS OF THE BJP WHO HAVE RISEN THROUGH THE CADRES FEEL? USED AND THROWN.

There is a full galaxy of leaders who feel left out and neglected. Take Laxmikant Parsekar for instance, a man who filled Manohar Parrikar’s shoes. He was defeated in the last elections as the entire opposition joined hands to support the Congress candidate Dayanand Sopte. This led to Parsekar’s defeat as Parsekar always won due to the split in opposition votes. Then Dayanand Sopte defected and joined the BJP and happens to be the front-runner for the BJP ticket. Says Parsekar, “All I did was express my desire to contest again because I’m confident of winning and also getting the support of the central party leadership. At no point in time did I say I’m definitely contesting. I have said that I desire to contest.” Parsekar was particularly taken aback by the reaction of the BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade when he reacted to “desires” of both Parsekar and former Tribal Affairs Minister from Canacona (Poinguinim) and another victim of use and throw, Ramesh Tawadkar. Tanavade, who ironically was the Officer on Special Duty to Chief Minister Parsekar, said, “The party has not endorsed the candidature of anyone.” The senior original leadership did feel hurt by what they felt was an overreaction and an almost backhanded endorsement of the Congress defectors (serial defectors Dayanand Sopte in Mandrem and Isidore Fernandes in Canacona).

One of the old BJP workers of Mandrem who are in touch, agreed that it would be apt to say that Parsekar has been “used and thrown”.

In constituency after constituency, there is a feeling of being used and side-lined. Look at Taleigao for instance. Datta Prasad Naik belongs to a family which has been dedicated to the BJP and one of the reasons why the Bhandaris have been with the party for long. He has been the face of the BJP in Taleigao fighting the Monserrates – Babush and Jennifer. As the spokesperson, his job was to take on the opposition including the Monserrates. When Babush won in Panjim on the Congress ticket defeating Siddharth Kunkoliencar and Jennifer won in Taleigao against Datta Prasad Naik, they became the new BJP power couple, with the original BJP people in the wilderness. When asked Naik didn’t want to elaborate only saying, “I am and always will be with the original BJP karyarakarta.” That says enough.

In next door St Cruz, Tony Fernandes once Congress, now BJP is a claimant who will, in all 

likelihood be given the ticket. Can Tony, hand on heart say that the community of Segundo Bairro, St Cruz where he was born and raised is pleased with his decision? Can he honestly say that he can see his people in the eye and justify his decision?

Then let us go straight to Quepem in the South where Babu Kavlekar is now the Deputy Chief Minister of the BJP government. He has been the sworn opposition to grassroots BJP leaders especially the tribal community. Prakash Velip Senior has been a grassroots worker and leader for a long time. Can’t the BJP see and imagine the unease that is being felt by the Velip community of Quepem and other BJP workers?

Such stories are repeated everywhere. Ask Ganesh Gaonkar of Sanvordem if he feels that this BJP is the old BJP. Ditto for Sunil Desai, Sandeep Khandeparker and Vishwanath Dalvi who are working overtime to defeat the aspirations of Ravi Naik and his son in Ponda. And they are open about this. And giving them quiet support is the seasoned and erudite former South Goa MP Advocate Narendra Sawaikar, who simply believes that the identity and ownership of the party should remain with those who have practised the party and organisation ideology for long. And there is no one in the BJP who will say that the son of Ravi Naik can lay claim to such a legacy.

The BJP is too caught up with the new mantra of winnability. But it is very surprising to think that this route of using and throwing the senior leadership will put it on the path of winning. When deficiencies of governance alienate people, the only ones who can save the party are its committed veterans. 

What kind of a policy is this where the BJP plans to go to the polls, with an army of defectors? The party perhaps feels that it needs to win at all costs. But if the cost is to sacrifice the very edifice of the party, then is there any purpose served?