MARGAO
As the G-6 led by Goa Forward Party supremo Vijai Sardesai has opted for BJP President and Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar, questions are raised in political circles as to what made the TCP Minister zero in on the Rajya Sabha MP over many a potential candidate for the Chief Minister’s post, including Goa Speaker Pramod Sawant, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and Union Minister Shripad Naik, just to name a few.
That Vinay Tendulkar gels well with the GFP supremo is an open secret. But, sources close to the GF supremo said that Speaker Pramod Sawant apparently did not find a place in the scheme of things of the TCP Minister.
Perceived as a hawk in political circles, especially when it came to the state minorities, the Speaker apparently did not receive a thumbs up from the Goa Forward Supremo, wary that any decision in favour of the Speaker for the top slot will further antagonize and alienate the minorities from him and his regional party.
As far as Health Minister Vishwajit Rane is concerned, the TCP Minister seemed to have neither forgiven nor forgotten how the FDA’s flip-flop over the formalin raids at Goa’s wholesale fish market has given the much needed armament for the opposition to direct their tirade on him.
Sources said that Union Ayush Minister Shripad Naik, who was widely considered a probable chief ministerial candidate given his seniority in the BJP, has never been a part of the schemes of things of the Goa Forward supremo.
On the other hand, sources in the know said that the TCP Minister has gelled well with the BJP President and Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar ever since his elevation as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.
Sources in the know said that Tendulkar had given in-principle nod for many a project mooted by the TCP Minister in his Fatorda constituency.
Politically speaking, the Goa Forward supremo has been of the firm opinion from day one that being the architect of the coalition government along with co-architect and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, he should hold the leverage on major issues, including making funds available in Fatorda to make the infrastructure projects a reality.
Against this backdrop, Sardesai, sources said, has zeroed in for a candidate for the top slot, who will be amenable to his agenda. It is not out of place to mention here that the Goa Forward supremo had his way with CM Manohar Parrikar when many a ministerial colleague had been complaining of inaccessibility. The GF supremo may be certainly looking forward to a man at the helm who will always lend his ears and hands to the alliance partners, especially the G-6 in the new government as and when Parrikar steps down as CM on health grounds.
