The political juggernaut is rolling at a ruthless pace with elections a couple of days away and leaders are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters. The BJP has decided to counter the negativity surrounding the recent defections, and has conveniently shifted the blame on to the electorate. Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari while pitching for stability squarely blamed the voters for the defections that are seen on Goa’s political landscape. Gadkari’s words would mean that the electorate erred by casting their votes to Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shiordkar and the several others who party-hopped into the BJP.
But defections have always been engineered by those in power and if politicos have shifted parties it’s only for greener pastures. Ideologies, morals and ethics find no space in the current political scenario where the craving for power supersedes everything else. If disgruntled Congress candidates have joined the BJP and vice-versa, the MGP too have been a party to this with two-thirds going the saffron way in a midnight switch. Can Gadkari explain where the electorate comes into this picture? If the Union Surface Minister was indeed serious about defections, it would have made sense if he had made his point in constituencies of Mandem and Shiroda where BJP was the direct beneficiary of defections.
By giving a different twist to party-hopping, the BJP can’t wash its hands off the issue. It is an open secret that these defections were engineered by the BJP. The fact remains that these defections have resurrected them and in a way they must thank the Congress MLAs. From Pandurang Madkaikar who is currently confined to his residence after a severe brain stroke, to Mauvin Godinho and Vishwajit Rane, it is the Congressmen who have rescued the BJP ship from sinking.
From passing on the blame to giving a new spin to old issues, Gadkari has failed to bring anything new to the table. The Rs 15,000 crore central fund to Goa which the minister is boasting about is for the National Highways project and not exclusively for the State’s development. Apparently, this is the same national highway expansion which the BJP was opposing during the Congress regime.
The party has failed on its mining promise too but still its party leaders have been holding out new assurances. All that the Prime Minister promised during his recent visit to Goa was efforts will continue. There is no point taking a fresh vow without a concrete road-map or a new solution in sight. These are vague promises that continue to betray the mining-dependents. It would have made sense for the BJP to accept failure and at least salvage its pride with the effort that went into trying to solve the mining imbroglio. The Prime Minister tried to put across this message.
The BJP has to take responsibility. It is to be seen how well the party manages to convince the electorate.
