BJP will come back to power on its own strength: Tanawade

State president of Bharatiya Janata Party SADANAND SHET TANAWADE says that his party has full faith in Goans as also the Goans have placed their trust in the BJP. In an interview with Ramnath N Pai Raikar, Tanawade says the BJP will come back to power in Goa with a majority  

Q: Where does the Bharatiya Janata Party, with the Goa assembly elections round the corner, stand as far as its prospects at these polls are concerned?

The Bharatiya Janata Party, backed by its organisational network in the state, which is its strength and the support of the voters, would come back to power after the 2022 state assembly polls. In fact, the BJP will win with a thumping majority on its own strength. We have a well-knitted organisation from the booth level to the state level, which includes various committees. The organisation also includes Morchas dedicated to women, youth, SC, ST, OBC, minorities, farmers and so on. Furthermore, we also have cells linked to co-operative sector, and other cells related to professionals like doctors, teachers, lawyers, chartered accountants, ex-army personnel and so on. In short, everyone in this state is attached to the BJP and the BJP is attached to everyone. I don’t want to speak about other political parties, some of which, I’m not sure, are having state presidents or not. BJP is a live, thriving and vibrant organisation.    

Q: It seems that rather than the opposition parties, the opposition factions within the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party are creating more problems for you.

This is totally creation of a certain section of media. I agree that whenever there are human beings, there are bound to be desires. However, whenever elections are declared, all those in BJP come together by sidelining their differences and work for the victory of the party. We all are interested in the triumph of lotus, our party symbol, and not individuals. In fact, many of the voters vote for lotus rather than candidates. People have themselves seen how all BJP leaders and workers united together when our national president Nadda ji arrived in Goa, few days ago. People have also been entertained when they recently saw members of a political party coming to blows, during the arrival of the state in-charge of that party to Goa. Discipline is the backbone of our organisation.

Q: When the time to decide the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates for the forthcoming state assembly election will arrive, do you feel you as the state party president will face a tough job, especially with there being two or more aspirants for the party’s candidature in every constituency?

I am very much certain that no ugly incident would take place in my party, when the time for deciding the candidates of the party for the state assembly polls would arrive. The BJP follows a set process for deciding its candidates, with winnability being important criteria. We gather the views of our workers as well as consult party’s well-wishers in each constituency about the possible candidates. The state election committee then shortlists constituency-wise candidate or candidates and forwards it to our Central Parliamentary Committee. The central leadership, based on its sensibility and information, takes the decision about the candidates. For that matter, even I cannot influence the central leadership.   

Q: There are some issues like corona pandemic handling, restarting of mining operations, increase in the prices of fuels and LPG, compulsion for digital meters for taxis and hike in power tariffs, which may create problems for your party at the 2022 state assembly elections…

A pandemic like corona pandemic was never heard before leave aside experiencing something like it. Not only Goa, but entire country and rest of the world suffered from it. Barring some initial hitches, the BJP government in Goa did the best it could. We even provided free treatment to all COVID-19 patients.

The mining as well as the digital meters issue is linked to the court and the government is just following the court order. In fact, the government has passed the Mining corporation Bill, during the recent assembly session. I’m sure that soon the mining dependants would have no more complaints. The matter as regards digital meters is just the implementation of the court order.

The issue of fuel prices is in the domain of the central government, and I’m certain the Centre would do the needful to provide relief to the people, even though the country is facing economic problems due to the ongoing corona pandemic. As for the power issue, the Aam Aadmi Party should first understand that the people of every state have different requirements. Does the Kejriwal government give free treatment to people like we do in Goa under the social medical insurance scheme? Here people are treated free of cost even for major operations like heart and kidney surgeries. Does Kejriwal government have schemes like Laadli Laxmi or Griha Aadhaar or Dayanand Social Security Scheme? Does his government give grants to schools like we do here? It’s very easy to promise moon to the public and fool them. However, Goans cannot be easily fooled by anybody and AAP should understand this.

Q: Why has this discussion as regards your former state president Vinay Tendulkar and Union Minister Shripad Naik re-entering Goan politics started in the first place?

This is a purposeless created issue. Some sections of media cannot accept that all is well in a political party and want to create confusion in the public minds. On certain occasions, it so happens that a political leader speaks something unintentionally and the media makes mountain out of a molehill. Now that Nadda ji has clarified about the state leadership issue, I think we should stop discussing it any further. 

Q: Was admitting 15 outsider MLAs in your party after 2017 assembly elections a mistake?

In 2017, the BJP went for a post-poll alliance with certain political parties, accepting their condition that Manohar Parrikar should be the chief minister. However, later they started dominating the government so we had to break this alliance. We could not tolerate this bullying behaviour and allow them to take forward their agenda. However, at the same time, the BJP wanted to provide a stable government to Goans, which was made possible by facilitating the entry of these 15 MLAs from other parties into our fold. I feel that we did the right thing and those MLAs, who joined the BJP are very happy over their decision, especially as they are now developing their constituencies in a better way. In fact, these MLAs have also admitted it before Nadda ji, the other day.

Q: How do you look at your opposition parties namely Congress, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Goa Forward Party and Aam Aadmi Party?

I don’t treat any of these parties any less. They are opponents of the BJP, and I treat them as serious rivals. I’m sure that even if all of these political parties form an alliance and come to power, they would not be able to give a stable government to Goans. 

Q: After two consecutive terms for the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Goa, don’t you think the voters may be looking for a change here?

I agree that consecutive two terms of the BJP government in Goa may have given rise to some anti-incumbency. However, the voters very well understand that the selfless public work of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has percolated to the lowest level in the party and the BJP governments in various states work for the public benefit and upholding the national ethos. I’m sure the Goan voters will again give their mandate to the BJP and allow us to serve them as well as this state for the third time successively. The BJP has full faith in Goans as also the Goans have placed their trust in the BJP.

Being in power, the BJP has to defend its performance and decisions. Though it appears that the party is growing after the mass migration of Congress MLAs, actually it has been bogging down with its excessive weight. The performance of the government is not up to the expectations of the people including on management of the COVID pandemic. If corrective steps are not taken, it may cost BJP in the elections”

-Manoj Kamat, Political analyst, Canacona

The BJP seems to be well prepared for the upcoming elections with a number of active workers and ground level supporters. The party is relying on a young leader Pramod Sawant. However, he has to reckon with other leaders in the party that may affect party’s performance in the elections. The party needs to work on reducing inflation to gain people’s support”  

-Purushottam Verlekar Political analyst, Màrgao

The larger the party gets, the bigger is the downfall, that is what we have learnt from history of politics. The main problem for the BJP is the loyalty of the imported candidates as well as the candidates who have grown bigger than the party itself. The second problem is how to accommodate the old loyalists. The constituencies where the candidates are bigger than the party may not be easy for the BJP to win”

-Hrishikesh Kadam, Political analyst, Canacona