MARGAO
“Ab Job Dhoondhna Aasaan”, thundered BJP-backed Vibrant Margao leader, Rajendra Talak as he launched an app for job seekers and employers.
In Margao political circles, however, one comes across an oft-repeated question “ when is the BJP going to unveil party candidate to take on Opposition leader Digambar Kamat in Margao in the 2022 polls?
The app launch helped bring a host of local party leaders, including BJP Margao block president Rupesh Mahatme, general secretary Ketan Kurtarkar, former president Chandan Nayak, Sunil Naik, former MMC chief Kamlini Painginkar and not to mention Rajendra Talak on one platform.
As scribes sought to find out who’s the BJP candidate shortlisted to cross swords against Digambar Kamat, not a single leader could shed light on the party candidate, preferring to leave the decision on the candidature to the party leadership.
On the contrary, one could sense a clear divide amongst the local leaders, one faction pitted against the other in the game of one-upmanship.
Indeed, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with party president Sadanand Tanavade and the all“powerful organising secretary Satish Dhond have been leading from the front to lead the party campaign for 2022, no such initiative from the ruling party has been noticed in Margao.
Leave alone projecting any particular candidate to lead the fight against Kamat in the ensuing poll, one has not come across the city-unit of the BJP getting battle ready for the upcoming polls.
At the time of Margao Municipal polls, many believed the party is projecting national award winning film producer and city-builder Rajendra Talak to take on Kamat in 2022. But, with the party’s campaign in the Municipal polls earlier this year ending on disastrous note, with the BJP-backed Vibrant Margao panel winning in just two of the 11 wards, it’s unclear whether the party has other plans for Margao in 2022.
Take note, the BJP has a dedicated and committed votebank in Margao as is evident by the votes polled by the party in recent polls. Local party workers and leaders in private say time is running out for the party in the battle for Margao with the Assembly polls just around two months away.
The Lotus had first bloomed in Margao in the 1994 election when Digambar Kamat made it to the Assembly on the BJP banner. The BJP retained the seat in the subsequent polls in 1999 and 2002, before Kamat decided to quit the saffron party to embrace the Congress in 2005.
In the by-polls held later that year, Kamat retained the seat, this time on the Congress banner. Since then, the BJP has been struggling to regain Margao, with Kamat maintaining his stranglehold over the constituency with every successive election.
Commented a local leader: “We have neither plan in place nor any strategy how to suffocate Digambar Kamat. We have not heard of any top party leaders descending in Margao to guide and galvanise the party workers ahead of 2022. We have no idea whether the party would shortlist a candidate from its ranks or zero in on a candidate who is acceptable to all.”
