PANAJI
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis arrived in Goa on a two-day visit and is likely to hold confabulations to tackle the uncharacteristic voicing in public of their electoral ambitions by Ports Minister Michael Lobo and Utpal Parrikar, son of former chief minister and Union defence minister the late Manohar Parrikar.
Fadnavis is the ruling BJP's Goa election in-charge and the public posturing by both Lobo and Parrikar Jr, has been a cause of much consternation within the party in recent days.
Lobo, who is a cabinet minister and represents Calangute constituency, has queered the pitch for the ruling party by orchestrating the political ambitions of his wife Delilah of contesting the upcoming Assembly elections from the neighbouring Siolim Constituency. Party veteran Dayanand Mandrekar is already in contention for the BJP nomination from there and there have been several run-ins between the two in recent months.
Lobo has also publicly voiced his intention of pitting his political acolyte Sudhir Kandolkar in Mapusa where Joshua D'Souza is the sitting BJP MLA.
Parrikar junior, meanwhile, has publicly staked claim for the Panaji seat, represented by his late father for over two decades before his death in 2019. The seat is currently represented by Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate and the party is in a quandary to resolve the issue.
Apart from this, the ruling party's leadership is also confronted with a bitter public tussle between its sitting Mandrem MLA, Dayanand Sopte, and its senior leader and former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Fadnavis will have to deal with the tricky situation.
Meanwhile, speaking at a party meeting in Mandrem, Fadnavis chose to train his guns at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Trinamool Congress, calling them migratory birds who will return to their home bases after the polls.
Fadnavis said a BJP government will be formed in Goa after the polls as people trust the Chief Minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also referred to the Congress, Goa's principle opposition party, as one for most "confused parties" in the country.
Referring to the delay in electing a full time president and other internal disparities in the Congress party, Fadnavis said it is sinking.
Another issue that Fadnavis will be expected to deal with is that of striking an alliance with the MGP. Soon upon arrival, he told reporters that action on the tie-up will soon happen.
Fadnavis also said he will oversee the party's preparations for the visit of the national president JP Nadda.
