THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
With barely six months left for the 2027 Goa Assembly elections, the ruling BJP has intensified its organisational outreach amid growing concerns over anti-incumbency, weakening grassroots connect and internal factionalism in several constituencies.
Senior BJP leader and National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh on Sunday held a series of closed-door one-to-one meetings with party MLAs and ministers as part of a broader exercise to review the party's preparedness for the Assembly polls. Among those who met Santhosh were Minister Vishwajit Rane, Minister Digambar Kamat, Speaker Ganesh Gaonkar, MLAs Premendra Shet and Nilesh Cabral.
Party sources said the meetings, held at the request of some MLAs, focused on strengthening the booth-level coordination and resolving internal differences that have surfaced in a few constituencies.
With the BJP completing nearly 15 years in power in Goa, the leadership is keen to counter signs of anti-incumbency by improving public outreach and ensuring greater unity within the organisation.
During the interactions, Santhosh is learnt to have urged MLAs and party workers to set aside personal differences and work together to present a united front ahead of the party's developmental outreach and public engagement programmes. The discussions also included constituency-level feedback and strategies to strengthen the BJP's connect with voters at the grassroots.
The organisational review assumes significance as the BJP is grappling with internal rivalries in some of its traditional strongholds. In Sanvordem, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's OSD Sanket Arsekar is widely perceived to be eyeing the BJP ticket despite the constituency being represented by Speaker Ganesh Gaonkar. Similar undercurrents are visible in Curchorem, where Rohan Gawas Dessai, another close aide of the Chief Minister, has emerged as a ticket aspirant notwithstanding the presence of Cabral. In Mapusa too, party leader Mayur Sawkar has been actively positioning himself even as the constituency has a sitting BJP legislator Joshua D’Souza.
These developments have triggered unease among sections of the party cadre, prompting the central leadership to emphasise organisational discipline and unity ahead of the 2027 polls.
Speaking after the meeting, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane dismissed reports of any complaints against party colleagues. "The meeting focused on strengthening the organisation and putting up a more united and stronger fight for the 2027 elections. It was purely an election-related meeting. I am 100 per cent committed to the BJP's victory,” he said.
Speaker Ganesh Gaonkar also denied that the meeting involved constituency-specific issues or factional disputes. "The discussion was entirely on organisational matters. There was no discussion regarding my Assembly constituency, nor did I make any complaint against anyone," he said, dismissing speculation about differences with Arsekar.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the BJP has made three programmes mandatory at the booth level, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat, Balidan Diwas commemorating Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, and digital training sessions aimed at building a technologically empowered party cadre.
Union Minister Shripad Naik announced that the BJP's new state headquarters, now over 90 per cent complete, is expected to be inaugurated on August 15 by either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The BJP currently has 27 MLAs in the 40-member Goa Assembly.
