BJP divides & rules Goa’s oldest regional party

PANAJI

: Many factors appear to have helped make up the minds of two former MGP legislators who switched sides to BJP on Wednesday, but chief among them was fear that one of them would be expelled from the regional party.

Tourism minister Manohar Azgaonkar

and

Sanvordem MLA Deepak Pauskar

quit MGP and joined the ruling BJP without attracting provisions of the anti-defection law. Since the two form two-thirds of the three MGP MLAs, they do not have to resign their membership and contest again.

The sudden turn of events that led to the duo making the switch post-midnight came as a surprise to many. But those in the know said tension was brewing for a while.

For the last couple of days, there was speculation that MGP would split and two of its MLAs will join BJP leading to the exit of MGP senior leader Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar from the cabinet.

This was in the backdrop of MGP refusing to step aside from Shiroda bypolls, with its president Pandurang 'Deepak' Dhavalikar insisting that it was too late to withdraw, despite an apparent understanding during government formation.

This did not go down well with the BJP leadership and separation would have happened sooner or later.

As BJP was wooing the two MLAs, MGP had a plan of their own. To checkmate BJP, MGP called a meeting of its central committee on Wednesday where the departure was to be nipped in the bud by expelling Azgaonkar.

Leaving Azgaonkar unattached would have spoilt the party for BJP as they would not have been able to show two-third members splitting as provided under the anti-defection law. Had Azgaonkar been expelled, Pauskar would have not been able to leave the party without first resigning the seat

According to a BJP source, when Azgaonkar and Pauskar learned about the plot they rushed to BJP leaders. That’s when the wheels were set into motion with the first meeting concluding around 7pm on Tuesday and the MLAs being inducted around 2am.

Another theory doing the rounds is that MGP wanted Pauskar to replace the to-be-axed Azgaonkar in the cabinet, holding the same portfolios of tourism, sports and printing. Once BJP came to know of this plan, the stakes were higher with BJP eventually promising Pauskar the PWD portfolio.

That’s another reason why BJP was forced to execute the plan in the dead of the night, as a change in mind would have proved costly. In the end, BJP was also successful in cutting MGP to size as the target electorate for both parties remains the same, according to political observers.