PANDURANG GAONKAR
PANAJI
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seriously considering bringing the four-time Member of Parliament and Central Ayush State Minister Shripad Naik into local politics and to give an opportunity to party’s state General Secretary and former MLA Sadanand Shet Tanawade to contest forthcoming Lok Sabha election from North Goa, party insiders have revealed.
With the last Assembly election result indicating that Bahujan Samaj is not happy with BJP and moving away from it as reflected through the defeat of six BJP ministers including the sitting Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, the party is worried that the parliamentary elections will not be a cakewalk for the four-time MP.
Coupled with any anti-incumbency that will work against him, the party is considering changing its face in North Goa.
An indication of this was offered at a temple in Kundaim where BJP’s South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar met Kundaim’s Bramesh Anand Swamy two days ago. BJP State President and MP Vinay Tendulkar, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, MLA Milind Naik, treasurer of the party Sanjeev Desai were present. Shripad Naik was absent, but former Tivim MLA Sadanand Shet Tanawade was present.
The discussion is believed to have revolved around the party’s north Goa seat candidature to be given to Tanavade.
BJP leaders who were present at the meeting confided that Tanavade will be the party’s candidate for the North Goa Lok Sabha seat and Shripad Naik will return to Goa’s political scene.
According to party insiders, giving Naik local responsibilities of working will help win over the Bahujan Samaj which had deserted the party last time around and also help rebuild the party’s base in those areas, it was once considered strong.
However, the proposal is yet to be tabled before Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar who is being treated in America and will be discussed with him only after he returns to the state.
In the event that Parrikar’s health does not permit him to continue in the Chief Minister’s chair, the party high command will discuss with him the best way forward. However, it is believed that Parrikar will give his nod to hand over the reins to Shripad Naik on the condition that he (Parrikar) will continue to remote control the
government.
Shripad Naik first became a member of 13th Lok Sabha in 1999 and went on to represent North Goa in consecutive terms of 2004, 2009 and 2014. He was first appointed as a State Minister in Vajpayee Government. He held portfolios of civilian aviation, agriculture and tourism in various terms. Currently, he is Minister of State for Ayush in the present Modi government.
Although there is BJP-led government in the state, the party’s present position is not really good in the State. BJP got only 13 seats in the last assembly elections, their lowest since 1999 when they won ten. Only one candidate of the Bhandari community was elected. If the BJP wants to once again regain success in the state, BJP leaders from the Bahujan Samaj feel that Shripad Naik will be the man to bring back the community to the party.
Some BJP workers are trying to bring Satish Dhond who was transferred to Maharastra, back to Goa but others are against this move They feel that Shripad Naik is a better choice than Dhond to revive the party in Goa. One group is working to bring back Dhond while other is opposing it and trying to convince party boss to send Naik to Goa.
Parrikar’s views on the situation are not yet known, and it is expected that he will make up his mind known only once he returns to the state.
Senior BJP leaders fear that without Parrikar the current government will not survive even till the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Once the 2019 elections are done and the BJP retains power at the Centre, it will be easier to hold together the state coalition
government.
With this in mind, the party does not want to completely remove Parrikar from the equation, but would rather install Naik as a figurehead thus giving the party of the dual advantage of getting the Bahujan Samaj back on board, as well as allowing Parrikar to be relieved of some of his burden allowing him to focus on keeping the government together.
