The political equations in the State are changing at a fast pace with politicos jumping parties with ease akin to monkeys swinging from one branch to another. Going by the current trend, it is increasingly evident that politics is not premised on any principles or ideological outlook. There are no defining boundaries to the kind of politics that is currently being played out. Personal interests have taken precedence over everything else and political parties are in waiting, ready to lap up any advantage. Interestingly, even the parties which have been firmly rooted in their own identity and beliefs have compromised their fundamentals to become an assortment of all possible contradictory elements pursing selfish interests.
Take the case of Sudhir Kandolkar, the strongman of BJP till March 24. Kandolkar was like a rock of Gibraltar known to have stood solidly behind former Mapusa MLA Late Francis D’Souza. He was seen as the saffron face to fill in the vacancy, but fell out since BJP opted to go for the sympathy vote that Joshua carried. The party may have been buoyed by the fact that a similar experiment in Cortalim was a success with Alina Saldanha taking over the baton from her husband Matanhy.
In Mapusa, there were tough choices to be made. Ignoring Joshua would have had its fallout in a constituency led by Francis who was seen as a face of minorities. Moreover, with parties waiting to pounce on the opportunity of aligning with Joshua, BJP had to do a tightrope walk. The party which has been doing some smart maneuvering till now has failed to do damage control by accommodating leaders who have fallen out due to political compulsions.
Kandolkar dropped his saffron robes and donned the Congress colours within 24 hours of BJP announcing its choice of candidate. Political ideology and everything else is relegated to the dustbin. With much fanfare and pomp, Congress embraced the BJP recruit with open arms and assured him of a Mapusa ticket. And this election season continues to be a story of flip-flops and diverse political u-turns.
In distant Shiroda, the story is no different. Former Industries Minister Mahadev Naik was denied a BJP ticket since new Congress import Subash Shirodkar was being accommodated and Naik spared no time to dump the BJP and hop on the Congress bandwagon.
BJP faced its biggest split in Mandrem where Congress import Dayanand Sopte was projected as the candidate. From contesting as an Independent and doing a ghar whapsi to MGP, BJP veteran and seasoned politician Laxmikant Parsekar was weighing his options very carefully till the time the BJP rushed in with damage control. Parsekar spared no one and literally tore apart the BJP leadership with his vitriolic attack, only to be silenced at a later stage.
Where does the voter stand in these political u-turns? Party affiliations and boundaries are irrelevant in the current political scenario as hunger for power and selfish personal interests take predominance over everything else.
