Goa BJP's gambit to splits coalition allies could backfire PANAJI, July 21: Goa BJP's game-plan to splinter its allies and lure over their MLAs to their side could backfire against a party that has clung on tenuously on to power here since October 2000.
IIT-educated chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who virtually single-handedly runs the party's government here, seems to have undertaken yet another of his most risky gambits so far, to lure over three more MLAs to bolster numbers in the coalition-ruled 40-seat assembly. BJP has 16 MLAs plus one Independent in its camp. It stayed on in power after the May 2002 elections with the backing of two smaller parties, the UGDP and the MGP, the first largely Catholic-backed and the latter a once-influential Hindu-supported party that ruled Goa for 17 years. In parallel developments on the weekend, three legislators belonging to two alliance partners of the ruling coalition gave notice of their intentions to switch loyalties to the BJP. Ministers Atanasio "Babush" Monserrate (UGDP) and Pandurang Madkaikar (MGP) claimed splits in their respective parties. Defections in instability-prone Goa have usually followed claims of ideological 'splits' within the party, so as to avoid the penal provisions of the anti-defection law. Minister Monserrate told local journalists that he, alongwith party colleage and MLA Francisco 'Micky' Pacheco, had split from the UGDP to form what he called "UGDP-Secular". Goa has been wrecked by political instability since 1990, when the number of seats were increased from 30 to 40. That, together with the growing importance of smaller parties or dissident groups, meant a small number of MLAs could effectively topple any government. In addition, the BJP strategy -- of first decimating the Opposition MGP, and then dividing-up the dominant Congress -- also fuelled instability here. But political chess-master Parrikar's gameplan this time is already being interpreted as a desperate attempt to gain a clear majority for the BJP on its own. Possibly this could be sought by dissolving the Goa assembly once again mid-term and going in for elections together with the parliamentary polls next year. In 1999, the BJP first dislodged the Congress by abetting defections in that party. Within a year almost, the BJP ousted their coalition allies -- led by ex-Congressman Francisco Sardinha -- to come to power themselves. In early 2002, a toppling-threat against the BJP lead party chief minister to outsmart and out-cheat potential dissidents by getting the assembly dissolved before they could carry out their rebellion. Some of his Cabinet colleagues later accused him with tricking them into this stalemate and the assembly mid-term dissolution. But the May 2002 polls returned a poor showing for the BJP, which managed just 17 (including one Independent) seats in the 40-seat house. Though its seats in the assembly went up significantly from the earlier 10, it was nowhere near the majority it once anticipated. Irked by the latest developments this weekend, BJP's partners, the MGP, threatened a possible pull-out from the coalition. Earlier too, the BJP has angered most of its one-time allies, leading to a severe polarisation against the party in the 2002 polls. (The Congress fared poorly there however. One factor was infighting among party leaders. The other was alleged corruption in alloting tickets for a price, for which the Central leadership and its emissaries were blamed by a section of partymen here.) Public opinion -- including in the media, which has been otherwise rather infatuated by the Fourth Estate-friendly BJP, lavish with the spoils of power -- has voiced some hostile comments on the latest developments. Some said the upcoming events would put to a severe test the BJP claim of being a "party with a difference". To complicate matters, the BJP now depends on some extremely controversial politicians, with questionable pasts. To stay on in power, chief minister Parrikar, an RSS saffronite who is also capable of some smart and tech-savvy forward-looking approaches, has shown his willingness to literally sup with the political devil. He has made intense compromises vis a vis his 'cleanliness' plank, including with individuals whom he earlier insinuated were linked to a "worse than Jalgaon" sex scam. Parrikar's regime has also been marked by cases being repeatedly slapped against top Congress leaders. The latter are known for their corruption-prone ways, but the politicised nature of the cases isn't seen as coincidental. It is also politically convenient for the BJP. Parrikar's former deputy CM, ex-union law minister Ramakant Khalap -- who ditched the BJP and joined Congress prior to the 2002 polls -- faced a third complaint filed with the police over his cooperative bank affairs on the weekend. Reports conveniently surfacing in a section of the media said it was in connection with a "multi-crore" loan to Bangalore-based Bannerghatta Farms. Khalap was union minister in the Devegowda Cabinet, before ending up in the BJP and quitting it to rejoin Congress. ENDS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- soc.culture.indian.goa, the first-every Usenet newsgroup on Goa. Visit http://groups.google.com,search for soc.culture.indian.goa postings ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
