CANACONA
Efforts by the BJP to prevent a possible revolt against the party nominee by convening a meeting at Rajbhag-Canacona on Friday has taken an unusual turn, as election authorities are believed to have sought a report of the meeting over a possible violation in the election code of conduct.
BJP's central leaders had convened a closed-door meeting of party workers of rival leaders to instil a sense of unity and unanimity once the party ticket is announced for the Canacona constituency.
A heated exchange reportedly erupted and nearly ended up in a fistfight as party workers of rival leaders sparred at the meeting, but BJP leaders downplayed the incident and claimed everything is “normal”.
According to sources, Chief Electoral Officer Kunal has sought a report from the deputy collector of Canacona over a possible violation in the election code of conduct by BJP over this meeting.
“The deputy collector is directed to submit a report as to how a meeting was conducted with the number of people, what had conspired at the meeting, who had chaired the meeting and who all were present,” said the source.
The BJP had conducted a ‘secret ballot’ on Wednesday to seek the opinion of its party workers on the candidate for the Canacona constituency and later on Friday, convened a meeting with the party’s units in Canacona.
BJP's central members Sunil Hegde (former MLA of Karnataka), Manoj Kotak (MP from Maharashtra) and Raghunath Kulkarni along with Goa State BJP Secretary Sarvanand Bhagat reportedly addressed the party workers on the need to cooperate with the party candidate, as and when he is declared for Canacona constituency.
Instead, rivalry came to the fore at the meeting and a few karyakartas/supporters of one of the two ticket claimants sparred with leaders of the local units.
The two claimants to the party ticket are Deputy Speaker & Canacona BJP MLA Isidore Fernandes and BJP State vice-president and former minister Ramesh Tawadkar.
The leaders had to intervene and pacify the agitating party workers at the meeting.
