the goan I network
MARGAO
A day after he had flexed his muscles enough to convey a message loud and clear to the BJP leadership not to take him and his regional party for granted, Goa Forward party supremo and TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai on Sunday said one should not push the issue further.
“So far so good,” was how Sardesai reacted on Sunday when the media sought to find out from the Goa Forward chief whether he was satisfied with the clarifications issued by the BJP leadership on the “personal interest” remark by Power Minister Nilesh Cabral.
“Cabral had called on me personally and insisted that he did not mean what was reported in the media. It looks like it was a slip of tongue on the part of Cabral. His party has clarified. The BJP central leadership has also clarified and I feel that one should not push the issue further,” Sardesai said.
Sources in political circles, however, said that the Goa Forward party, which is a key alliance partner in the BJP-led government has capitalized on the opportunity to convey to the major partner that the regional party will not take things lying down if any attempt is made to take the party for granted.
In fact, many say that with the BJP central leadership having set in motion the process to find a successor for the ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, the TCP Minister’s outbursts on the “personal interest” remarks by Cabral is seen as an assertion by the Goa Forward not to take the party for granted on the leadership issue.
It also assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of doubts being expressed in many quarters whether BJP President Amit Shah will put his foot down on the leadership issue or will settle for a leader, which is recommended by the regional party.
After all, the Goa Forward supremo has been on record from Day One that it was he, who was instrumental in getting Manohar Parrikar from Delhi to head the coalition government. And, questions are doing the rounds in political circles whether the Goa Forward is now not in a position to get a Chief Ministerial candidate of its choice to head the Alliance government.
That the BJP central leadership reached out to the TCP Minster during the weekend after he set a deadline till Saturday evening to clarify on Cabral’s comments is also seen as a move by the BJP not to further antagonize the key regional player, at least for the time being, when the party has still not found a leader of a stature of Manohar Parrikar to head the government post-Parrikar political scenario.
