PANAJI
In a development that has stirred unease within the ruling coalition, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) appears divided over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) unexpected decision to field its own candidate in the Curti-Khandepar Zilla Panchayat constituency -- an area long regarded as an MGP stronghold.
The move has prompted contrasting reactions from within the MGP. While senior leader Ketan Bhatikar voiced deep shock and dissatisfaction, questioning why the alliance partner refrained from putting up a joint nominee, party president Deepak Dhavalikar played down the episode and confirmed that the MGP would eventually back the BJP candidate.
Bhatikar, asserting that Curti has historically remained under MGP’s influence, disclosed that the party plans to field an Independent candidate. “Will announce our independent candidate in the coming two days,” Bhatikar told The Goan adding ‘MGP being a small party, it has a lot of potential to grow and with candidates in place, we cannot ignore them’.
The MGP leader said the party would not yield to political arm-twisting and is willing to stand firmly behind an Independent who, according to him, has a strong chance of winning. “BJP used their power to get the seat reserved for ST candidate. MGP too has got strong ST leaders in the constituency,” Bhatikar said.
The Curti-Khandepar seat is currently represented by Priya Babu Chair, an OBC candidate elected on an MGP ticket. The political dynamics in the region were notably different during the previous term, when Ravi Naik held the Ponda Assembly seat as a Congress MLA before shifting to the BJP ahead of the 2022 elections.
Dhavalikar, however, adopted a noticeably different tone, stating that the MGP is not placing significant emphasis on the ZP elections and is instead gearing its organisational efforts towards the 2027 Assembly polls. As alliance partners, he told The Goan that the MGP would support BJP’s nominees in the current ZP round, suggesting that the party is unwilling to escalate tensions over local-level differences.
Meanwhile, BJP State President Damodar Naik maintained that the candidature in Curti-Khandepar was finalised only after consultations with the MGP, indicating that the party followed coalition protocols before announcing the name.
According to the sources, of the total 50 constituencies, BJP has offered only three seats to MGP.
