Why is the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) central committee interested in going into introspection asking for terms and conditions laid down for extending support to the BJP at the time of forming the coalition government? The government was formed at such a hurried pace that there were absolutely no conditions of a Lok Sabha seat nor demands for key Corporations. The only point of discussion was that Sudin Dhavalikar gets PWD while Babu Ajgaonkar is allotted the Tourism portfolio. The written condition which Dhavalikar signed was that Manohar Parrikar will be the chief minister of the coalition.
If these are the ground realities, why is the MGP making a demand now? The party is apparently left with a bitter taste in its mouth as the TCP minister Vijai Sardesai has been virtually walking away with plum positions and key corporations for his partymen. MGP on the other hand is left with only GSIDC to its MLA Deepak Pauskar. While Vijai went full steam with his Goenkarponn agenda, the MGP remained as muted spectators. Goa Forward's role in the coalition was so dominant that the party even took credit for clearing the decks for Parrikar's Panaji seat.
While the Goa Forward juggernaut was on a roll, the MGP who were till now playing the waiting game, have suddenly seen an opportunity and decided to pile on the pressure. Sensing Parrikar is on a work-allocation spree with Corporations being hand-picked at times, the MGP is advertently using the Lok Sabha seat to push through its demands. Probably this is the only straw which the Dhavalikars are holding on to pressurise BJP knowing well that Parrikar will feel some discomfort in an eventuality of a LS contest.
The demand for a Lok Sabha seat also comes against the backdrop of a cold war brewing between the Goa Forward supremo Vijai and the MGP Legislature Wing head Sudin. For the record, Vijai has rightly reminded the Dhavalikars that they took part in a National Democratic Alliance meeting in Delhi where Sudin had reportedly stated that MGP is the oldest and the strongest ally of the NDA. There was no question of attending the meeting if MGP was not a part of it, unless of course if Sudin was a special invitee.
The demand for a Lok Sabha seat is seasonal and purely to pressurise Parrikar. The central committee has literally no powers and it is very clear that it is the Dhavlikars who call the shots in the party. The BJP is in no position to forgo a Lok Sabha seat it is currently holding, especially at a time when there are ambitious plans put in place across the nation by party president Amit Shah. MGP's pressure tactics won't work as the party has very limited options at hand. Sudin's silence speaks more than the roar of the central committee.
If these are the ground realities, why is the MGP making a demand now? The party is apparently left with a bitter taste in its mouth as the TCP minister Vijai Sardesai has been virtually walking away with plum positions and key corporations for his partymen. MGP on the other hand is left with only GSIDC to its MLA Deepak Pauskar. While Vijai went full steam with his Goenkarponn agenda, the MGP remained as muted spectators. Goa Forward's role in the coalition was so dominant that the party even took credit for clearing the decks for Parrikar's Panaji seat.
While the Goa Forward juggernaut was on a roll, the MGP who were till now playing the waiting game, have suddenly seen an opportunity and decided to pile on the pressure. Sensing Parrikar is on a work-allocation spree with Corporations being hand-picked at times, the MGP is advertently using the Lok Sabha seat to push through its demands. Probably this is the only straw which the Dhavalikars are holding on to pressurise BJP knowing well that Parrikar will feel some discomfort in an eventuality of a LS contest.
The demand for a Lok Sabha seat also comes against the backdrop of a cold war brewing between the Goa Forward supremo Vijai and the MGP Legislature Wing head Sudin. For the record, Vijai has rightly reminded the Dhavalikars that they took part in a National Democratic Alliance meeting in Delhi where Sudin had reportedly stated that MGP is the oldest and the strongest ally of the NDA. There was no question of attending the meeting if MGP was not a part of it, unless of course if Sudin was a special invitee.
The demand for a Lok Sabha seat is seasonal and purely to pressurise Parrikar. The central committee has literally no powers and it is very clear that it is the Dhavlikars who call the shots in the party. The BJP is in no position to forgo a Lok Sabha seat it is currently holding, especially at a time when there are ambitious plans put in place across the nation by party president Amit Shah. MGP's pressure tactics won't work as the party has very limited options at hand. Sudin's silence speaks more than the roar of the central committee.
