E-Paper
Burnt our fingers, says MGP on alliance with BJP in Goa. There is fine print
The BJP’s focus on building alliances is seen to emanate from its Goa experience in 2017 when the party decided to go alone but ended up with just 13 seats in the 40-member house
PANAJI: Goa’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has reached out to the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) to explore the possibility of a pre-poll alliance ahead of Goa elections early next year but the regional party, which has twice helped the BJP form a government in the past, indicated it wasn’t inclined to rush into a deal.
“Why should we go back to the BJP,” asked Ramkrishna aka Sudin Dhavalikar, the MGP’s only remaining legislator in the Goa assembly. The MGP won three seats in the 2017 elections and supported the BJP to form a Manohar Parrikar-led government. After Parrikar’s death, Sudin Dhavalikar made a pitch to take charge as chief minister but settled as deputy chief minister in Goa’s Pramod Sawant’s government. He was dropped from the cabinet within days of his elevation after two of his party’s MLAs crossed over to the BJP.
As Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who has played a key role in sealing the BJP’s alliances with regional parties such as MGP in 2017 and later in 2019, was back in town this week. Gadkari and BJP’s election in-charge and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis held a series of meetings on Monday and Tuesday to solicit feedback from the party’s MLAs on possible alliances.
At a media interaction, Gadkari called Dhavalikar his friend, with whom the friendship went beyond politics.
“I have maintained political relations. But political relations are one thing and politics is another. I have helped them. Even if he is not aligned with the BJP, then we have personal relations,” Gadkari said on Tuesday, confirming that he was scheduled to meet Dhavalikar to “discuss and receive suggestions”.
Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant went a step further and suggested that an alliance was necessary because “politics (in Goa) was leaning towards anarchy.”
“I have said before also that given the type of politics that has begun to emerge -- for the first time some people have been leaning towards anarchy, then like-minded people have to come together on one forum,” Sawant said.
“Regarding any possible alliance, our central leaders Amit Shah, JP Nadda, etc decide. A decision will be taken only in consultation with them. How many seats and other things, they (central leadership) decide. So, it would be wise if they (Dhavalikars) speak to them directly,” Sawant added.
When asked whether MGP qualified to be a “like-minded party” Sawant said. “Of course. they were with us before.”
The BJP’s focus on building alliances is seen to emanate from its Goa experience in 2017 when the party decided to go alone but ended up with just 13 seats in the 40-member house. That the BJP was still able to form the government was mostly credited to Gadkari and Manohar Parrikar, who died in 2019.
The BJP is also mindful that any split in the votes between the BJP and MGP, which largely appeals to the same demography in crucial constituencies, will benefit the opposition.
MGP was seen as a willing partner for the alliance on Monday when Sudin Dhavalikar declared that the MGP was willing to align with “whichever party was willing to give them 12 seats” where they have already started working on the ground and have selected their candidates.
When later specifically asked about the possibility of MGP’s alliance with the BJP, Dhavalikar, who runs the party along with his brother Pandurang aka Deepak Dhavalikar who is the party boss, made it clear that their party didn’t want to rush into an alliance with the BJP.
“It is true that we committed suicide (by aligning with the BJP) in the past. The alliance that we did in 2012, the BJP brought it to an end by dismissing our ministers in 2016. Despite that in 2017, we helped them form a government and again after one year or so, they had us removed. In such a situation, why will we go back to the BJP?” Sudin Dhavalikar said.
But this did not mean that the Dhavalikar brothers were ruling out an alliance. Sudin left that option open, saying a final decision, which will be binding on all members, will be taken by the party’s executive committee.
BJP leaders in Goa are in favour of an alliance.
“We are moving in a direction in which we will be much stronger with the people... I had earlier too said that we need an alliance... but the party will ultimately decide,” state transport minister Mauvin Godinho said.
The only time the BJP was able to win a majority on its own was when the party had a pre-poll alliance with the MGP back in 2012. Prior to that, the MGP was an alliance partner in the Digambar Kamat’s Congress-led coalition government between 2007 and 2012.
To be sure, Dhavalikar has held meetings with Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as well, but the conversations between the two parties have not materialised into much.
Goa Congress leaders too have sent multiple messages to its high command on the need to have an alliance with like-minded parties. While top party leaders in Goa, who as recently as last week had visited Delhi didn’t reveal their ‘strategy’, some leaders indicated that the party has decided ‘in-principle’ to align with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Goa Forward Party, but no discussion has taken place on the number of seats or any seat sharing agreement.
“We have apprised the party high command of our position and our views and until the high command takes a decision based on the discussions we have had, it would not be proper to discuss it with the media,” Goa Congress working president Aleixo Sequeira said.
Elections in Goa are likely to be held sometime in February along with five other states with the BJP hoping to hold on to power while the Congress is hoping to return back to power after a gap of ten years as well as to stave of competition from the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, who are both hoping for a foothold in the state.
