Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Subramanian Swamy’s comment that the move in Goa to gift the breakaway Congress group with plum positions is a temporary situation comes as a bolt from the blue and a huge setback for the ‘newcomers’. It puts a big question mark over their future in the saffron party against the backdrop of party workers divided on the issue.
At a time when the BJP was riding high on stability, thanks to the Congress group, Swamy’s statement will ruffle feathers and create an atmosphere of insecurity. The BJP leadership had to make some sacrifices and sideline some within the party to make way for the Congress recruits. But that’s the strategy the BJP adopted to win stability and free the government from the periodic tantrums thrown by the regional parties.
In a way, Swamy could be right in saying that this is a temporary situation, and probably the breakaway group knows it too because a few of them see themselves as guests since they hail from strong Congress bastions where BJP has a very limited presence. But the timing is not just right since Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was nurturing hopes of adjusting them to the new environment and carrying the party forward.
By highlighting it as a temporary solution, the newcomers especially those who were not adequately gifted could rue their decision of joining the bandwagon. Amid controversial remarks like these, the going is not going to be easy for them and the sense of belonging to the party will never surface.
Swamy doesn’t stop there. Throwing broad hints to the minority community MLAs, he says that RSS people continue to have dominant control over the BJP despite the influx of Congress MLAs. Is this the true face of BJP? If yes, then it can have major repercussions within the minority community which has always been wary of the party functioning. Minorities play a significant role in the State’s electoral politics and cannot be ignored by any party. Lest we forget, in 2012 the minorities sided with Manohar Parrikar to give BJP a thumping victory and send the Congress packing.
The Congress faction joining the BJP was always a win-win situation for both. The lure of being part of the government and the stability for the Sawant dispensation were the takeaways. The Congress group managed to overcome even the backlash of the switch, courtesy the huge wave of resentment against the Goa Forward. Just at a time when reconciliation was underway, Swamy’s comments have only ushered in a fresh wave of uncertainty.
The flip side is, Swamy is known to have made controversial statements in the past and there are times where his party leadership has disowned them. The question is whether the BJP top brass will take Swamy seriously on this issue, especially since the party was accommodative during the recent membership drive. Swamy has certainly touched a raw nerve and it is up to the chief minister to clear the air.
