MARGAO
Beginning with the failed Progressive Democratic Front experiment with the MGP, instances are galore after almost every election that Salcete-based politicos and political parties had no qualms in dining with the MGP or the BJP despite fighting the polls against these parties.
If a group of Congress members, including Churchill Alemao, Luis Proto Barbosa, Luis Alex Cardozo and Farrel Furtado broke away from the party after the 1989 election to form the PDF government with the MGP, senior Congress leader Francisco Sardinha along with a group of Congress MLAs, including Aleixo Sequeira and Arecio D’Souza had parted ways with the Congress to form a new government with support of the BJP.
After the 2002 Assembly election, the regional party, United Goans Democratic Party extended support to the BJP. Party MLAs Matanhy Saldanha, Mickky Pacheco and Babush Monserrate all supported the BJP-led government led by then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Then Velim Ind MLA Filipe Nery Rodrigues too had extended his support to the Manohar Parrikar government.
The situation was no different in 2012 when Navelim Independent MLA Avertano Furtado extended support to the BJP government and was rewarded with a ministerial berth. The Goa Vikas Party MLAs Mickky Pacheco and Caitu Silva had also extended support to the Manohar Parrikar government. So did Velim Independent MLA Benjamin D’Silva, who also extended support to the Parrikar
government.
Incidentally, despite the ideological divide with the MGP and BJP, Salcete politicos had enjoyed power with these parties, all in the name of development. More often than not, these politicos had defended their decisions to support the BJP or the MGP in order to usher in the development of their constituencies.
Political commentator, Adv Cleofato Coutinho pointed out that this has indeed been a trend in Salcete politics over the years. “May be people in recent years have been emboldened to switch sides after elections after taking into account that their predecessors managed to win subsequent elections despite enjoying honeymoon with the BJP
or MGP as the case may be,” he said.
