the goan I network
MARGAO
Was BJP’s failure to stitch strategic tie-ups with local minority satraps like the 2014 election one of the factors that saw the reduction of sitting MP Narendra Sawaikar’s vote tally in the minority heartland Salcete?
Blame it on a host of factors, including the absence of Mission Salcete or simply the absence of tie-ups with minority leaders, BJP’s tally indeed came down substantially in the three minority dominated segments of Nuvem, Benaulim and Velim, where the BJP’s presence is minimal.
If Mickky Pacheco, Caitu Silva, Avertano Furtado and Benjamin D’Silva had lent their overt and covert support to Narendra Sawaikar in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, thanks to former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar, there was no minority leader worth its name in the ranks of the BJP to take the BJP agenda before the electorate in the minority-dominated areas.
The strategic tie-ups with these local non-Congress satraps had paid rich dividends for the party when Sawaikar had ended up polling 14713 votes in Nuvem, Benaulim and Velim .
Comparatively, the sitting MP polled just 9092 votes in these three segments in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, with the BJP down by around 5621 votes. Apart from these three minority segments, the BJP had put up a good show in other minority-dominated areas such as Navelim and Curtorim in the last election.
Another interesting fact that has come to light is that barring Fatorda, where the BJP’s tally increased by around 1000 votes, the party could not surpass its 2014 tally of votes in the remaining seven segments of Salcete this time.
It’s an open secret that post-Parrikar scenario, the BJP leadership had made it clear that the party will not pursue Mission Salcete in the minority heartland, but would instead pay attention in all the talukas.
Sources in the BJP, however, pointed out that the party leadership did try to consolidate its vote bank spread across Salcete, including Navelim and Cuncolim, by roping in leaders and people sympathetic to the party, but to no avail.
Take the case of Navelim. On the eve of the election, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant welcomed rebel leader Satyavijay Naik in the party fold in an apparent bid to strengthen its base in Navelim. As it turned out, however, the Congress tally crossed the 11,000-vote mark in Navelim represented by party veteran Luizinho Faleiro.
While the Congress polled 11353 votes, Sawaikar had to be content with only 6754 votes. In 2014, the Congress had polled 8622 votes as against Sawaikar’s 6432 votes, indicating that the BJP could not touch the 7000-figure mark.
“It was indeed surprising that the BJP had failed to stitch strategic tie-ups with local minority leaders like in 2014. We cannot say that the present leadership could not match Parrikar’s political acumen in doing business with minority leaders or simply that the BJP leadership banked heavily on AAP’s Elvis Gomes to break into the Congress votes,” commented a political observer.
