TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s Mission Salcete may have had a smooth sailing in the run up to the 2012 assembly polls. Parrikar’s return at the helm of affairs may have further helped him to take make inroads in Salcete’s countryside in the last year and half.
But, BJP’s anointing of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls has thrown up a debatable question – will minority- dominated Salcete rally behind a prime ministerial candidate perceived as a communal and polarising leader, whose credentials of protecting the minorities came under serious doubts during the 2002 Gujarat riots?
While Parrikar in particular managed to earn a lot of goodwill from the minorities around the Salcete countryside during his 18-month rule, with the chief minister unveiling his agenda of inclusive politics, doubts are cast whether the goodwill will be converted into votes for the BJP, especially with Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate.
Fatorda legislator Vijai Sardessai, who is perceived as having come close to the chief minister on the plank of Fatorda’s development, says that what people of India are looking for is not a Hindu nationalist, but a patriot who will take everyone along and protect the interests of the minorities. “We cannot support someone who says he is a Hindu nationalist. We need a patriot who would carry all sections of the society in the march towards peace and progress”, Sardesai said.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP through Parrikar’ Mission Salcete made a concerted bid to make deep inroads in the minority heartland in support of its party candidate, but in vain. The mission had come a cropper with the results leaving the party way behind Congress candidate Churchill Alemao, who romped home with a 50,000 plus vote margin.
Much water has flown down the River Sal since the last nine years with the chief minister returning back to the taluka with his mission of reaching out to the minority community and expressing his indebtedness to the people for the rout of the Congress in the 2012 assembly polls. While the BJP would certainly hope to retain its traditional base in Margao, Fatorda, Navelim and Cuncolim, the party in general and Parrikar in particular will look forward out for additional votes in Velim and Benaulim and Navelim.
Sources say the Chief Minister may bank on his lone ministerial candidate from Salcete, Avertano Furtado, besides Velim MLA Benjamin Silva and Benaulim MLA Caitu Silva to run the electoral tide in the party’s favour. In the
2004 Lok Sabha polls, Parrikar had banked on his then ministerial colleagues, Mickky Pacheco and Filipe Neri Rodrigues to make a difference in the BJP’s tally in Salcete, but the strategy came a cropper.
Says a political observer: The question before the people is not the number of votes the BJP garners in Benaulim, Velim and Navelim. But, the BJP will have to first ascertain whether MLAs representing these constituencies will come out openly and share the party platform and seek votes for a prime ministerial candidate whose secular credentials are in doubt”.
City-based lawyer, Cleofato Coutinho e Almeida says the BJP may face a herculean task to sell Narendra Modi in Salcete. He, however, felt that the BJP may try to consolidate the Hindu votes elsewhere in south Goa knowing well that Modi may not sell in Salcete. “In the 2012 assembly polls, a host of factors led to the defeat of the Congress. The church, media, family raj and corruption all led to the rout of the Congress. The 2014 Lok Sabha polls are still months away. We will have to wait and see what stand the religious institution takes in the run up to the polls”, he said.
