At Quepem darbar, Sawant walks tightrope to appease rival factions

Margao: Flanked by Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa and his bete noire, former MLA Chandrakant “Babu” Kavlekar, at the recent ‘Prashasan Tumchya Dari’ programme at Quepem, chief minister Pramod Sawant was clearly ill at ease in ensuring that both get his undivided attention.
However, political observers said the spectacle only served to indicate that Kavlekar has managed to retain his political relevance after his defeat in the last assembly election, much to the dismay of the Quepem MLA.
The D’Costa camp is clearly annoyed over Kavlekar being accorded the privilege of occupying the seat beside the chief minister in the meeting, with several claiming that it was an attempt by the BJP to stem the “growing popularity” of the Congress legislator.
“D’Costa put forth before the chief minister a long list of demands with most of the items pertaining to the basic necessities of the residents of villages of Quepem,” a political observer said. “This only validates the fact that the constituency has remained neglected by successive governments, defections by politicians notwithstanding.”
The construction of playgrounds, panchayat ghars, and roads to connect remote, inaccessible villages to the mainland were some of the issues listed by D’Costa in his representation to the chief minister. Other issues included water scarcity in remote villages, network connectivity issues, illegal stone quarries, and the dilapidated condition of several schools.
“Deao ground is awaiting the allocation of funds for the work to be undertaken. About 25,000 sq m of barren government land needs to be acquired and allotted for the construction of a panchayat ghar and a public playground at Betul,” D’Costa told Sawant. “Also, land needs to be identified for the construction of a public playground in Barcem and Morpirla.”
The Quepem MLA further demanded action by the government against a few laterite stone quarries operating in villages illegally.
As regards water woes, D’Costa demanded that the water supply department send “tankers regularly or release enough water to residents with tap connections.”
Sawant ensured that he also engaged Kavlekar in small talk intermittently on the dais.