PANAJI
Supporters of former minister Govind Gaude in his Priol constituency stayed defiant on Thursday, a day after he was sacked from the cabinet by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, perhaps taking a cue from his own stern and dissenting reaction to the development on Wednesday night.
Nonetheless, one of Gaude's staunchest supporters, Vishant Naik, faced the first political repercussions of his mentor losing ministerial power -- the possibility of himself losing the chair of the sarpanch at the Betki-Kandola village panchayat.
Less than 24 hours after Gaude was dropped from the cabinet, a notice for a no-confidence motion against Naik was forwarded to the office of the Ponda Block Development Officer (BDO) by five of the nine members of the Betki-Khandola panchayat. Naik however remained unfazed and said he is unaffected by the power games and will continue to be loyal to Gaude.
Elsewhere in the constituency, not everyone is sympathetic to the fallen minister. Some among a group of locals who got into a conversation with this reporter at a roadside chai stall in Marcel were of the view that he deserved to be sacked for his outbursts against his own chief minister and government.
A few others from the group, however, said it was wrong if 'party discipline' was the reason for dropping him.
"No one is discussing the merit or demerit of the issues he raised, of corruption in the department for tribal affairs. It is a community he is part of, and as a minister, represents them. It is natural that he would raise the problems faced by members of the community in dealing with government offices," said Santosh Shirodkar, a voter from the constituency who lives a few hundred meters away from the Banastarim bridge.
Elsewhere, possibly detractors of Gaude, claimed that the news of him being dropped was celebrated on Wednesday night with the bursting of fire-crackers. "People are angry with him. Many burst crackers in the night to celebrate the news," said a former journalist who lives in the constituency but sought anonymity.
Gaude himself, meanwhile, appears to be biding his time to plan his political positioning and stance. In an immediate reaction on Wednesday, he said that his dropping as minister was a "reward" he got for standing for the downtrodden people who are being trampled.
Adding a tinge of defiance to his reaction, Gaude also said: "Gratitude to my government and my party for liberating me to continue the struggle that I voiced for."
Obviously, this inning isn't over and the next moves of Gaude, who has won Priol twice in 2017 (as an independent candidate) and in 2022 (as a BJP candidate), in the politics of Priol and the State, will be keenly watched.
