PANAJI
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president on Sunday backed the leadership of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and hinted at fighting the 2022 Assembly polls under him although he stopped short of making any assertive statement in that regard saying the party’s Parliamentary Board will eventually take that call.
“Pramod Sawant has done a good job. There has been all-round development under Pramod Sawant’s leadership. We are moving ahead with his leadership,” Nadda said in response to a question at a press conference he addressed before winding up his two-day visit to Goa.
He added that as of now, there is no scope to think of anything else (on leadership).
To a corollary question from journalists on Union Minister of State and five-term North Goa MP Shripad Naik’s publicly stated desire to return to State politics, this was Nadda’s riposte: “He is doing a very good job in Delhi...Everybody has an interest, but the interest has to be taken care of by the party. He (Naik) has been assigned a job in Delhi, which he is doing very well.”
Nadda has spent two days in Goa taking stock of the party’s preparedness for the upcoming Assembly polls slated to be held in February-March 2022 along with other Northern States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.
Referring to the 10 MLAs who defected from the Congress to the BJP in July 2019 Nadda said they have “fully assimilated” in the party.
“I had one-on-one meetings with all these MLAs and they appreciated BJP’s working style. They said that they feel nice in the party”, Nadda said.
Nadda also said everyone he interacted with -- cabinet ministers, MPs, MLAs and party office bearers -- had shown confidence about the party’s position vis-a-vis the ensuing elections.
To another query whether the party will grant tickets for the polls to more than one member of a family or kin of top leaders and promote ‘family raj’ Nadda shot back and tried to drive home the distinction between the notion of family raj and allotment of electoral tickets.
“There is a difference between ‘family raj’ and allotment of tickets. Family raj is when you do not allow anyone else to rise in the party and an entire party goes gaga about one family. That is family raj,” Nadda said.
The question referred to the presence of the husband-wife duo of Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate and Panaji MLA Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate in the BJP and both of who as of now are eyeing contesting their respective seats again.
Ports Minister Michael Lobo has come on record on his wife Delilah Lobo’s intentions of contesting the Assembly poll from the Saligao constituency. Also Union Minister of State Shripad Naik’s son Siddesh is eyeing the Cumbaharjua constituency even as his father has voiced his desire to also come back to State politics.
Pressed further if the party will give more than one ticket to members of a family for the 2022 polls, Nadda said: “It depends on the election committee members, their viewpoint, their understanding at the grassroots level”.
Referring to the state of affairs in the party, Nadda said the BJP has taken a “big leap” forward in the last four-and-half years in Goa.
“The party is heading in the right direction and tremendous confidence can be seen amongst party workers. Party has taken a big leap since 2017,” he said.
