PANAJI
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday arrived in Goa and immediately got on to the task cut out for him by the Bharatiya Janata Party -- take charge of the ruling party’s 2022 election strategies and campaign.
His first visit to Goa since being appointed in charge of the election by the BJP central leadership, Fadnavis had a series of meetings and interactions with ministers, party workers, office bearers and core committee members.
Intermittent to his internal party meetings, Fadnavis also briefed the media on Monday afternoon at a city hotel, where he dropped broad hints of the ruling party’s electoral strategies and took swipes at two Opposition parties -- Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
He, however, largely kept the party’s cards on the crucial leadership issue and pre-poll alliances close to his chest saying these are decisions the central leadership and parliamentary board will take. It was a busy Monday for the ruling party as besides Fadnavis, two other top leaders and Union cabinet ministers were also in poll-bound Goa.
On the leadership issue and who would be projected as the CM’s face going into the election, Fadnavis sought to take cover under the convention that this decision is in the domain of the central leadership but he made it a point to add that incumbent Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had given a good account of himself after the loss of Manohar Parrikar.
“Decision regarding the CM candidate will be taken by the party national president and the Parliamentary Board,” Fadnavis said, but did not shy away from praising Sawant for his ‘successful’ tenure after Parrikar.
The BJP election in-charge also took solace at the electoral success of the ruling party in the Zilla Panchayat and local civic body elections and asserted that the 2022 polls will be won with a comfortable majority.
“We will not face this situation in 2022. We are coming with a full majority in 2022. We are not complacent. Each election is a challenge. We will overcome all the challenges and I am confident,” he said in response to a query on the BJP having to poach MLAs from other parties to form the government.
He also said, that the Congress was unfit to rule and is experiencing a crisis of confidence. “The Congress is in a very bad state. They are asking for a full-time president. They are asking for a full-time leader. On one hand there is Modi who works 24x7 only thinking of the country and on the other hand there is the Congress,” Fadnavis said.
On AAP, whose national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is incidentally in Goa to boost the campaign, Fadnavis dismissed it as a party restricted to erecting hoardings and banners before elections.
“We have also seen the AAP’s banners and posters. That is their limit. Wherever there is an election, we see their banners and posters. But to run a country, you need the mettle to do it. You need to show your presence, that’s fine, but you need more than that,” Fadnavis also said.
Speaking on the poll preparedness of the BJP, Fadnavis claimed that the chief minister, ministers and party office bearers will unitedly ensure the party gets a historic majority.
He also denied any dissension within the party when questioned about the dissenting voices of the ruling politicians over the past several weeks.
“There may be a difference of opinion but there is no rebellion,” Fadnavis said taking pains to tell the media not to fall for ‘rumours’.
On the question of giving tickets to two individuals in a family, Fadnavis said, the BJP by and large follows the policy of one ticket per family but exceptions have been made in the past, even in Goa.
At least two BJP politicians -- Ports Minister Michael Lobo and Revenue Minister Jennifer Monsserate -- are set to face a predicament with the BJP’s one-ticket-per-family policy.
While Monserrate’s husband -- Atanasio (Babush) -- is the sitting MLA of Panaji and is set to seek re-election, Lobo has publicly voiced his sarpanch-wife Delilah’s ambition to contest from Siolim.
