The explanations offered by losing BJP MLAs are not surprising because the whole exercise of stock-taking is all about assigning blame. Oscar Wilde once wrote, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you place the blame.” And the defeated MLAs have, as expected, pointed fingers at everyone else but themselves. Laxmikant Parsekar, the first chief minister to lose an election and that too by an unimaginable margin blamed his partymen for stabbing him in the back. What was not said or discussed was whether he first stabbed them in the front. Pernem MLA Rajendra Arlekar said delay in announcing his name caused some voters to move to the MGP. What was he doing for the five years preceding the elections? How did he lose connect with the voters? Dilip Parulekar and Dayanand Mandrekar blamed their loss on the minority voters who had been advised by the church not to vote for the BJP. And how does one explain that seven of the 13 BJP MLAs are from the minority community. Did they win without the support of the minority community? Mahadev Naik, another minister who bit the dust also blamed the minority community when it was very clear that he lost because of a split in majority votes. The losing Sanguem and Sanvordem MLAs blamed it on the ripple effect of denying Ramesh Tawadkar a ticket in Canacona.
The truth is, the BJP lost because it failed as a political party and a government. It had a non-playing captain in every sense of the term and the head coach had to come on to the field to goad a lackadaisical team to move forward. As a team, the BJP failed because of the failure of each player. This is perhaps the only government which lost a chief minister and five ministers and while there are many factors which contributed to this loss none of the MLAs who were defeated can honestly say they did a good job or took care of their constituencies and constituents. It takes a good candidate and a political party with purpose and direction to win a constituency. In this case the party was tottering and it has been kept alive by 13 candidates who bucked the anti-BJP trend.
The fall out between the BJP and MGP was a factor while the MoI was not. Whether the advisory of the church had an impact on the fortunes of the BJP would require a more detailed study because despite the stand taken by the church seven of the 13 BJP MLAs are from the minority community. What the defeated BJP MLAs are attempting to do is shift the blame away from themselves and the party when what they should be doing is looking within. Unless the defeated MLAs admit their personal failures rebuilding the party will be an uphill task.
