MARGAO
Call it a planned move or otherwise, the BJP's focus is on the ST-dominated areas of Salcete, which has Scheduled Tribe populations in almost six out of the eight Assembly segments.
Over the last week, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has visited the ST-dominated areas of Nuvem Assembly segment as well as the neighbouring Curtorim segment in a bid to woo the Christian STs.
Notably, the Nuvem Assembly segment is represented by Congress-turned-BJP MLA and Minister Aleixo Sequeira and Curtorim by independent MLA Reginaldo Lourenco, who is a coalition partner of the BJP-led government.
That the Chief Minister went out of the way to reassure the ST population of Nuvem segment that Sequeira is even ready to relinquish the seat if it is reserved for the scheduled tribes in future.
Political observers say that the BJP is working on a game plan to make inroads into the Catholic ST areas to offset any loss of support from the ST community in the Hindu-dominated areas of the hinterland talukas.
