PANAJI
The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) will deliberate and take a call on whether Power Minister Ramkrishna “Sudin” Dhavalikar’s son, Mithil, should be fielded from the party’s traditional Marcaim constituency at its annual general meeting on October 30. The power minister said the issue would be discussed in detail along with the party’s broader electoral strategy for the 2027 Assembly elections at the AGM.
He said, the working committee meeting was held on Saturday and the general body will meet next week where all these issues will be deliberated threadbare and decisions will be taken.
The statement comes two months after Dhavalikar publicly indicated he was willing to vacate the Marcaim seat, which he has represented continuously since 1999, to facilitate his son’s political debut.
At the time, he had said that if Mithil formally sought an MGP ticket, he would personally back his candidature.
Political observers see the move as part of a gradual generational transition within the Dhavalikar-led MGP. Mithil’s growing visibility at MGP and charitable trust events in recent months had fuelled speculation about his electoral entry.
The question of succession in Marcaim, meanwhile, also has implications beyond the constituency.
The MGP is currently engaged in preliminary seat-sharing discussions with alliance partner BJP ahead of the next Assembly polls. On Friday, the party reiterated its claim to seven constituencies, including Marcaim, Mandrem, Pernem, Bicholim, Ponda, Priol and Shiroda.
While Marcaim and Mandrem, the seats won by it in 2022 remain the party’s safest bets, its demands for Ponda, Priol and Shiroda could trigger hard bargaining with the BJP, which currently holds two of those seats and has already begun positioning its leaders in the region.
Dhavalikar reiterated on Saturday that key decisions relating to alliance strategy, seat-sharing and candidate selection would first be discussed within the party before formal negotiations are taken up with the BJP leadership.
