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Speaking to The Goan, MGP president Deepak Dhavalikar said: “Yes, we will hold meeting in Shiroda. We have good support in this constituency.”
As expected, political leaders from other political parties were inquiring with media persons about the crowd present and success of MGP’s first meeting.
Many political leaders and their supporters on Monday called up media persons on their phones to inquire about MGP’s next step. Even political pundits feel that MGP may win the hearts of public over the issues of MoI, resurrecting culture and development, during election meetings.
On Sunday, Jose Rodrigues, a businessman from Panchwadi in Shiroda constituency, attracted the attention of the crowd in his address during the meeting, when he openly targeted former Shiroda MLA Subhash Shirodkar and present MLA Mahadev Naik.
“I helped Mahadev Naik to defeat Subhash Shirodkar, but now Naik has started behaving like Shirodkar. We want MGP to field its candidate in Shiroda and if fielded, we assure to make him victorious,” Rodrigues had said on Sunday.
Rodrigues was instrumental in Mahadev Naik’s victory, as he had openly targeted Subhash Shirodkar in public meetings during the 2007 assembly election. Now, Rodrigues is in MGP’s camp, whose support may play a vital role to ensure victory.
Deepak Dhavalikar had earlier expressed his intention to contest from Shiroda, which may become a reality if they break ties with BJP.
Political equation could change then, as BJP will field its candidate in Priol constituency and it will be difficult for Dhavalikar to win without the support of the saffron party in Priol and this will force Dhavalikar to shift from Priol to Shiroda.
According to political pundits, at present in Ponda taluka, the only safe constituency for MGP is Marcaim. Not any tall leader can dare to defeat Sudin Dhavalikar, as he has camaraderie with voters.
