the goan I network
MARGAO
It was 12.30 on Sunday noon. A host of BJP leaders, including ministers Mauvin Godinho and Milind Naik, party president Vinay Tendulkar were all huddled together for a media interaction in support of party candidate Narendra Sawaikar.
And, not to mention party’s former ministers and MLAs, Ramesh Tawadkar, Subhash Faldesai and Sadanand Tanavade and district leaders such as Sarvanand Bhagat and Rupesh Mahatme, but ‘bhai’s’ absence could be very much felt around as the tallest amongst the leaders was no more with the party.
Indeed, Manohar Parrikar’s absence and the void he left behind after his demise around a month ago has come to haunt the BJP and the sitting MP Narendra Sawaikar with just two days left for the April 23 election.
Be it party South Goa campaign manager and Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho or state president Vinay Tendulkar or the sitting MP Sawaikar, they put in their best efforts to send across the message why people should vote for the BJP, but bhai’s absence was palpable.
A BJP leader said Parrikar was not only the face of the BJP but had his own style of functioning. “He could understand the Salcete psyche as well as expectations of the people staying in the hinterlands. He could get people subdued in his characteristic fashion and persuade many to lend a helping hand to the party candidate,” the BJP leader said.
In the 2014 election, when then Independent MLA Vijai Sardesai had led Congress candidate Reginaldo Lourenco’s campaign on the secular vote, the former Chief Minister could get at least four MLAs representing Salcete to campaign for Sawaikar. Besides, Parrikar’s rich political experience and his rapport with many a Salcete leader had come in handy for him to tame many a leader, all with the avowed objective of reducing Congress’s margin in Salcete.
The BJP candidate and the party is missing Parrikar in a big way, leaving the party leaders to concentrate in and around the party’s traditional vote base in Salcete and outside.
BJP state president Vinay Tendulkar does not deny the fact that Manohar Parrikar was the tallest leader in the party. He said the party has certainly missed his services in the ongoing election, though in the same vein Tendulkar sought to point out that the party is following the roadmap left behind by the former Chief Minister.
“It is a fact that Parrikar’s absence has been felt in the ongoing campaign. But, we have all tried to make up for the loss by taking forward his legacy forward. He has left behind the political roadmap for us to follow,” Tendulkar said.
Sawaikar echoed similar sentiments. “Parrikar’s leadership was unparalleled. His demise has certainly created a void in the party even though all the party leaders try to take his legacy forward. Parrikar’s absence was indeed felt in the election as he had his own way of taking things forward.”
