EXCERPTS OF----------------------------------------------------
THE TWEET
>> This is the first Lok Sabha élections after the formation of our party. And our role in this election is already significant
>> We have infused the idea of Goem, Goemkar and Goemkarponn into the consciousness of the Goan electorate
>> As an alliance partner, we would be the last to go back on our word we gave when we formed the alliance
>> Be under no doubt, Our karma will be in synergy with our dharma
MOOT QUESTIONS
1)
Will Goa Forward join the campaign of the BJP in both the Lok Sabha constituencies?
2)
Will Vijai and other two ministers come out in their constituencies in support of BJP candidates?
MARGAO: With the Election Commission blowing the Lok Sabha poll bugle, leader of the key alliance partner and TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai is the cynosure of ruling and opposition eyes with the BJP and the Congress bracing up for yet another round of battle for the South Goa seat.
The Goa Forward Party (GFP) supremo has firmly ruled out the possibility of the regional party entering the ensuing electoral fray. And, the TCP Minister has not stopped flaunting his membership of the NDA alliance and in a recent tweet Sardesai went to the extent of saying “As an alliance partner, we would be the last to go back on our word we gave when we formed the alliance. Be under no doubt, our karma will be in synergy with our dharma”.
A host of questions, however, remain unanswered. One, will the Goa Forward join the campaign of the BJP in both the Lok Sabha constituencies given the regional party’s status as a key coalition partner and a member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). A positive answer from the regional party will bring the party leadership to face another crucial question -- whether the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai and the other two Ministers Jayesh Salgaocar and Vinod Palienkar will descend on the ground in their respective Fatorda, Saligao and Siolim Assembly constituencies in support of the BJP candidates.
The TCP Minister’s tweet is silent on how the Goa Forward will go about in the ensuing election, which only states “This is the first Lok Sabha élections after the formation of our party. And our role in this election is already significant. Perhaps for the first time we, through our ideology and grass root work, have been able to make Goemkars sensitive to their regional issues and needs, and thus make them look at all elections with a regionalistic flavour. We have infused the idea of Goem, Goemkar and Goemkarponn into the consciousness of the Goan electorate so that even when they vote in the national elections, they will favour those who genuinely understand and champion our regionalistic aspirations at the national level. As a Goa centric party, that’s our contribution. As an alliance partner, we would be the last the go back on our word we gave when we formed the alliance. Be under no doubt, Our karma will be in synergy with our dharma”.
Sardesai does not come out clear whether the party will support the BJP, a member of the NDA, or restrict its role to mere public appearances with the BJP candidates as was witnessed recently when Sardesai shared the dais with South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar and BJP president Vinay Tendulkar in Margao at least on two occasions.
The moot question that may come to haunt the Goa Forward leadership is whether the party and its three Ministers can afford to support the BJP candidates even in their respective Assembly segments, constituencies, leave alone the entire Lok Sabha constituencies.
Take the case of Fatorda, the Assembly segment represented by the Goa Forward Party Chief. The BJP is already a force to reckon with in Fatorda, irrespective of the fact whether or not the TCP Minister extends support to the seating MP Narendra Sawaikar. Consider this: In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, when Vijai Sardesai, then an Independent MLA, had led the campaign of Congress candidate Reginaldo Lourenco, the Congress could not secure a lead in Fatorda. in fact, it was Narendra Sawaikar who led over the Congress nominee, though by a slender margin of around 438 votes.
Since then, much water must have flown down the river Sal in the last five years with Sardesai going all out to consolidate his position in Fatorda, but one question that would stare at the Goa Forward Chief is whether the party can afford to ask its voters, who had around two years ago voted for the Coconut symbol, cast their vote for the Lotus in the ensuing election.
For the moment, the TCP Minister has evaded these and other questions, saying the Election Commission has just announced the dates for the Lok Sabha poll, and there’s time to answer these queries with the nomination process set to begin only on March 28 and the election scheduled on April 23.
