With half of Cabinet from South and turncoats in ranks, BJP's confidence is now sky high

Ministers of the Pramod Sawant Cabinet and party leaders from South Goa seen seated on the dais as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant exuded confidence of the party doing exceptionally well in the segments represented by them.

MARGAO

Will the presence of half the Cabinet of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant from down South and the entry of Congress turncoats into the BJP help the ruling party to wrest the South Goa Lok Sabha from the Congress in the May 7 polls.

This moot question has been a subject of debate post-2022 Assembly elections when Sawant’s Cabinet was packed with six Ministers from South Goa, including four from Ponda taluka, Ravi Naik, Ramkrishna Dhavlikar, Govind Gawde and Subhash Shirodkar, raising questions whether the move was aimed at wresting the Lok Sabha seat from the Congress in the elections due in 2024.

None other than Chief Minister Pramod Sawant touched on this question on Tuesday just before party candidate for the Lok Sabha seat Pallavi Dempo headed to the office of Returning Officer to file her nomination papers.  While addressing the party workers and leaders at the BJP district office, just a stone throw away from the district Collectorate housing the office of the Returning Officer, the Chief Minister reminded that the BJP had lost the South Goa seat by a whisker in 2019. And, he pointed out that the party’s strength in South Goa has grown manifold since 2019.

Taking a glance at his Cabinet colleagues hailing from South Goa, besides the Congress turncoats, including Digambar Kamat seated on the dais, the Chief Minister said the mission to wrest the South Goa seat from the BJP should not be difficult in 2024 with MGP supremo Power Minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar backing the party candidate and Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik in the party fold.

He then turned to Congress-turned-BJP Margao MLA Digambar Kamat saying Kamat was with the Congress in 2019, but is now part of the BJP, exuding confidence of the party getting a lead in Margao this time round. The Chief Minister made a mention of another Congress turncoat, Minister Alexio Sequeira saying the party’s strength had doubled and tripled with a host of leaders, including Dhavalikar supporting the BJP government.

Then turning to Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho, the Chief Minister reminded the party rank and file that the Congress has fielded a candidate for South Goa who was defeated by Godinho in Dabolim in the 2022 Assembly polls. As if inspiring confidence amongst the party workers, Sawant thundered that Mauvin Godinho will give a 5000 voter lead to the BJP from Dabolim in the May 7 polls.

Both MGP supremo, Power Minister Ramkrisha Dhavlikar and Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik told the media outside the office of the Returning Officer that Pallavi Dempo will not only get a massive lead in Madkai and Ponda respectively, but the  BJP will win the May 7 election comfortably.

Incidentally, Chief Minister’s prediction that BJP will lead over the Congress by over 5000 votes has only fuelled speculations that the BJP poll managers have set targets to the Ministers as well as MLAs enjoying positions to either perform or perish. In fact, the Congress leaders on Tuesday told party workers in Nuvem that the Minister has been given a target of 6000 votes  in the constituency.