the goan I network
CANACONA
Will ST leader and former BJP minister Ramesh Tawadkar play spoilsport for the BJP or is he a serious contender for the Lok Sabha polls?
Going by Canacona constituency elections last year and the manner in which Tawadkar split BJP votes to deny BJP candidate Vijay Pai Khot a certain victory and in the process, allowed Congress candidate Isidore Fernandes an unlikely win, the BJP has every reason to be concerned in South Goa which has a huge ST
community.
The Canacona assembly polls last year clearly established Tawadkar’s ability to spoil BJP’s chances of victory.
Having being denied the party ticket at the last moment, Tawadkar rebelled and stood as an independent candidate. Despite efforts by senior state BJP leaders, Tawadkar refused to back down and contested the polls pulling a sizeable 7,505 votes, while BJP’s candidate Vijay Pai Khot secured 8,476 votes and the combined BJP votes could easily have gone well past Congress MLA Isidore Fernandes, who eventually won with 10,639 votes.
Tawadkar’s presence in the South Goa LS polls could cause BJP serious concern, given a sizeable ST community in the talukas of Canacona, Sanguem, Quepem and Dharbandora. The BJP would be eyeing these voters for the LS polls and any division of their votes would be detrimental to BJP and a huge advantage to the rival Congress party.
Asked if he was playing spoilsport for the BJP for a second time or if he was a serious contender for the Lok Sabha polls, Tawadkar told The Goan that his aim was to win the seat by defeating Sawaikar.
“It is also to show the BJP that not everyone can be used and thrown out at will. BJP should understand that the Bahujan, and particularly the ST community, are not use-and-throw objects. In the past, the BJP had finished the political careers of many Bahujan leaders and most importantly ST die-hard workers. Not everyone will take such treatment lying down every time. Sometimes, someone is needed to make them realise their folly before they continue meting out such treatments to budding Bahujan leaders,” justified Tawadkar.
Citing instances to prove BJP’s use and throw policy of Bahujan leaders, Tawadkar said: “BJP systematically sidelined ex-chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar, ex-speaker Rajendra Arlekar, besides dumping ST leaders like ex-MLAs Vasudev Meng Gaonkar, Prakash Velip and myself. See the pitiable status of Parsekar and Arlekar in the BJP,” he added.
Tawadkar said he wanted to represent the Bahujan Samaj against BJP’s high caste politics. “BJP’s attack on the Bahujan Samaj will be adequately responded by defeating South Goa BJP MP Narendra Savoikar in the 2019 LS elections.”
“We have scheduled meetings in all villages of South Goa, beginning at Quepem, Sanguem, Dharbondara and Sanvordem talukas. The Bahujan Samaj, erstwhile sympathisers of BJP, are now backing me to take on the casteist BJP,” said Tawadkar.
