Goa polls crucial for Manohar Parrikar, Arvind Kejriwal

PANAJI: Today's Goa results of the February 4 polls will be crucial for the country’s two IIT-ian politicians – defence minister Manohar Parrikar and AAP’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, analysts say.

It will be test for the popularity of Parrikar which took a dip for his U-turns on the main promises he made to the Goan electorate to come to power in 2012.

He has said that BJP will get 26 seats though despite a wave against the Congress in 2012, the saffron party could get only 21 seats.

Parrikar, as a national leader, has a very good image outside Goa. In fact, he is synonymous with Goa at the national level. He was the chief minister of the state from 2000-2002 and for another term from 2002-2005 when he lost power due to a major split in the BJP. He bounced back with a full majority in 2012 in the backdrop of illegal mining which led to the crushing defeat of Congress.

He left many issues unresolved when he was elevated to the union cabinet as the country’s defence minister in the middle of the Goa assembly term.
As for Kejriwal, AAP tried hard to woo the Goan electorate for nearly a year now. There was a ‘high’ for AAP when Kejriwal addressed a series of meeting in Goa but it seems to have lost the steam in the last leg of the Goa campaign. Analysts say that Goa will be crucial for AAP’s growth and it will be known today.