Tension has prevailed in the Marcaim constituency for past two months as the Mahajans or the managing committee of the Navdurga temple attempted to replace the idol, which was opposed tooth and nail by the Bahujan Samaj. The matter, thus has landed in court.
The Mahajans or the temple committee, which consists of the temple committee, says they have decided to replace old idol after the Priest of temple belonging to Ghaisas family observed some cracks on idol.
However, the villagers say there is no need to do so as the crack in the 800-year old is very small and repairable.
The issue of the Mahajans v/s the Bahujan Samaj is not limited to just Marcaim constituency but a movement has started all over for the State for scrapping the Mahajan Act so much so that it is started taking a ugly turn politically.
The BJP, which is the beneficiary of both the communities, the Saraswats as well as the Bahujan Samaj, now finds itself in the catch 22 situation for, if they decide to take any side it could prove fatal.
If the results of the Corporation of City of Panjim elections are any indication, sources say, the BJP should stand up and intervene.
Sources say the Mahajans, who are mostly the residents of Panjim, and have been staunch saffron-brigade supporters for decades, worked against the BJP candidates in CCP elections and as a result their candidates lost narrowly in many wards.
For example the BJP candidate in Ward 25 Kundaikar Nagar, Vasant Daxikar won by just 25 votes, in an area dominated by the Saraswat voters thus showing that the community did not vote for Daxikar.
In the last election, Shobha Dhond had polled 680 votes and won by a margin of 380 votes.
Also, in the Panjim bypoll last year, Siddharth Kuncolienkar had just swept the votes in this ward.
The effect was also seen in ward no 5 at Tonca, wherein Datttaprasad Naik’s wife Sheetal Naik just scraped through with a small margin.
Sources say there are around 563 green votes (present and voting) for BJP in this constituency but the party managed just 429 which meant the Mahajans/Saraswats either stayed away or voted against the party.
A source, who did not want to be named, said that the Saraswats worked against the party asking them to vote against the BJP, which they felt was supporting the Bahujan Samaj.
While most of the BJP office bearers decided not to speak on the issue, party office-bearer Anil Hoble, who is also the president of Bhandari Samaj and the Bahujan Mahasangh says the BJP needs to do something at the earliest.
“I don’t know what happened in the CCP elections but I must say that the issue of Mahajans v/s Bahujan Samaj is gaining momentum everywhere in the State and it could affect the party’s chances adversely,” Hoble said.
He stated that there is absolutely no need to change the idol at Marcaim as it is almost 800 years old.
Hoble said that everything in the temple is done by the villagers or kulavis, purohits and other communities so then why should the mahajans take credit for everything.
Shailendra Panjikar, president of the Sri Devi Navdurga Prathisthan, an association or committee formed by the aggrieved villagers in Marcaim says, “If the BJP government does not intervene and resolve the issue it could be a disaster for them in the coming elections. The people are already upset as they feel the government is pro-saraswats and this is the time they must prove,” says Panjikar.
