Candidature tussle sees BJP take on BJP for many South Goa seats

MARGAO: BJP appears to have a rebellion among its cadres in several constituencies in South Goa ahead of the March 22 zilla panchayat elections.
The dissidence is visible in at least two ZP constituencies in South Goa—Barcem and Rivona—where aspiring candidates have filed nominations against official party candidates after their names failed to find favour.
Congressman gets ticket, irks loyalist
In Barcem constituency, while Khushali Zorgo Velip, a staunch supporter of deputy chief minister Chandrakant Kavalekar, filed his nomination papers as the BJP candidate on Tuesday, Wednesday saw Malu Velip, a former president of Quepem BJP mandal, filing his nomination as an independent candidate.
Significantly, Khushali had won the last three ZP elections backed by Kavalekar, who was then in the Congress.
It was widely believed that Khushali would be fielded by the Congress, but Kavalekar’s choice prevailed leaving BJP loyalists in Barcem disenchanted. Though Kavalekar put up a brave front claiming that both the old BJP workers and the earlier Congress workers who joined BJP would work unitedly for Khushali’s victory, Malu’s entry into the fray could spell trouble for the saffron party.
“Despite Khushali having won for three consecutive terms, no much development could be done as we were then in the opposition. As we are now in the ruling party, this constituency will see more development,” Kavalekar told reporters.
Interestingly, Sandip, brother of Sanguem independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar, has also filed his nomination as an independent candidate from Barcem.
Sources said that much would depend on the role played by chairperson of the State ST Commission Prakash Velip, who holds considerable influence in the largely ST population of the constituency. Kavalekar had contested the 2017 assembly elections as a Congress candidate against BJP’s Prakash. In all probability, political sources said, Malu could be enjoying Prakash’s covert support for the ZP elections.
Barcem zilla panchayat constituency comprises of Barcem, Morpirla, Fatorpa, Molcornem and Cavre Pirla panchayats.
In Rivona constituency, incumbent chairperson of South Goa zilla panchayat, Navnath Naik, failed to secure BJP’s nomination as did Bhavesh Zambaulikar, a member of the national executive body of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha., who was aspiring for the party’s nomination, was also cold shouldered by The party chose Suresh Kepekar as its nominee. Kepekar belongs to the ST community which has sizeable votes in the constituency consisting of Rivona and Netravali panchayats. Registering his protest over denial of candidature, Zambaulikar on Wednesday resigned from the primary membership of the party as well as from the national executive body through a letter addressed to state party president Sadanand Tanavade. He is likely to contest as an independent.
Sources said that the recent feud between BJP spokesperson, former Sanguem MLA Subhash Phal Dessai and Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar is also likely to have an effect on the ZP polls in Rivona constituency.