BJP’s mix of forceful yet smart politicking once again threw all Congress calculation haywire despite the party shooting off multiple letters to the Governor drawing her attention to their status of being the single largest party. Against the backdrop of a huge leadership crisis threatening the very existence of the coalition government, BJP bosses needed to work out their math in quick time. Filling the vacuum created by chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s departure appeared to be a tough proposition considering the varied choices of partners. The BJP cadre was not in a position to look at anyone outside their ranks, while the allies had their own preferences for a leadership replacement.
Smart maneouvering and strategizing by party high command of Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari ensured that the BJP had their way with minor compromises. And despite all the resistance, the BJP managed to install a leader of their choice “ Pramod Sawant, a person groomed by Parrikar himself and their lone MLA with RSS links.
The tougher part, however, was to get acceptability for Sawant, a candidate who is rank junior in governance, having never held the position of even a minister. The only binding thread for the coalition at this point was none of the players wanted to go for dissolution or mid-term polls. With time running out and the Congress crying hoarse in the background over a constitutional crisis, the BJP had to act fast. Rewarding Goa Forward with deputy chief ministership was no big deal for BJP leadership, but the bigger challenge was to get its other partner Sudin Dhavalikar on board. And this is where BJP played its masterstroke, virtually killing two birds in one stone. Sudin was virtually pushed towards a mean surrender and was left to choose between a split within his party or join the bandwagon and be rewarded with another deputy chief minister’s post. But herein was a catch. Sudin was asked to give an undertaking that MGP will not contest the bypoll.
The BJP may have had their way on the leadership crisis, but the bigger takeaway for them was that it cleared the MGP hurdle at the forthcoming bypoll. At a time when Deepak Dhavalikar made huge inroads in Shiroda, BJP appeared to be on a shaky ground. Conceding a seat to the Congress in terms of an indirect advantage could be suicidal to the ruling dispensation in the larger scheme of things. The BJP who were mum over MGP contesting the bypoll against them used the political situation to their advantage and literally forced their ally out of the arena.
As Sawant takes his chair, it remains to be seen how he manages to take this government forward. Managing
coalition compulsions with a wafer-thin majority will be challenging especially when the Congress has kept its doors wide open.
