Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to be in Goa on April 16 in connection with the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign. Against the presumption that Goa is insignificant to the larger schemes of things of the central leadership vis-a-vis Lok Sabha, Shah's visit has only shown that BJP will leave no stone unturned to ensure every seat available is pocketed.
Shah's visit could be solely having an electoral agenda, but for sections of people in Goa, it would assume significance in more than one way. For the State BJP leaders, Shah has been their go-to leader on critical issues, whether political or the vexed Mhadei tangle or other party issues.
Amid uncertainties over Mhadei and the political undercurrents that directed its sway, Shah has been in the thick of action ever since he made a controversial statement while addressing a public rally at Kittur in Belagavi in January this year that the BJP government has come to an agreement with Goa for an amicable solution to the issue by allowing water diversion.
In the same meeting, Shah also disclosed that the long-pending fight is resolved and announced that the water will be beneficial to farmers across many districts of Karnataka when, all this while, the plea for water diversion was for drinking purposes. While the issue hangs by a thread in the court, the political pitch by Shah in Belagavi has not only infused new adrenaline into the Opposition but left several leaders, including Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, red-faced and defenceless. While on the one hand, the BJP leaders could not slam the statements made by the home minister; they could also not find a suitable defence to hold on to, and the recently concluded Assembly session was testimony to this.
It is here that Shah's visit will be in focus, and the critical Mhadei question will come to haunt at any public platform, and Goa will expect Shah to make a statement on Mhadei and explain the party's position. It is to be seen how the BJP's master strategist finds his way out of this Gordian knot.
Secondly, defection has been an issue that the BJP has handled tacitly by either capitalising on the rival parties' weaknesses or the ruling's needs. However, the bandwagon appears to have suddenly stopped in its tracks and two of the senior Congress imports are stranded even as speculations and denials have been flying thick and fast. There has been some mix-up, with Central leaders saying "it will happen" while the CM is ruling out a Cabinet reshuffle. Can Shah have the last word on this while in Goa?
The BJP will have their focus areas clearly demarcated as Shah descends in Goa, while Goans will also have theirs. It would be interesting to see how Shah, known to be BJP's master strategist, wades through the turmoil on Mhadei and come out unscathed. One way or the other, Goa needs to hear the truth and nothing but the truth.
