Sawant reaches Delhi, expected to meet Modi today
the goan I network
PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening, two days after taking office following the passing away of Manohar Parrikar on Sunday.
He is expected to hold meetings with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and office bearers in the national capital besides meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, beyond the confabulations sticking to party matters and meeting the convention of a new Chief Minister paying courtesy visits to party leaders in Delhi, Sawant will have very little to discuss in the back drop of the Model Code of Conduct being in force due to the Lok Sabha elections.
But back home in Goa, it is the restriction imposed by the Code of Conduct on the political executive to take policy decisions and its inherent curbs on executing works that is providing Sawant the welcome cushion against the pulls and pressures of managing the difficult coalition he has inherited.
Sawant, an untested quantity in terms of being an administrator, has retained exactly the same set of ministers who formed the cabinet under the late Manohar Parrikar, and therefore, does not have to go through the motions of the delicate exercise of portfolio distribution.
At the cabinet meeting he held on Wednesday after winning the trust-vote in the Goa legislative assembly, Sawant informed all the ministers that they would retain all the portfolios they held in the previous government and that there would be no changes made. The notification officially allocating portfolios to the ministers, however, is yet to be issued though.
While the Model Code of Conduct is a temporary sigh of relief for Sawant, the reason for it -- the Lok Sabha and the three Assembly by-elections on April 23 -- will be a big test for the 45-year-old Ayurveda practitioner.
His party leadership is expecting him to lead the campaign from the front for the two Lok Sabha seats and the by-elections to Mandrem,
Mapusa, Shiroda and perhaps the Panjim constituencies, if the Election Commission announces the date.
His immediate task is to placate the restive alliance partner -- Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party -- whose president Deepak Dhavalikar continues to be committed to contest the by-elections from Shiroda.
Despite reports that Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and BJP National President, Amit Shah, have extracted a commitment that the MGP will not contest the by-elections from Deputy Chief Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar, the younger Dhavalikar continues to be adamant and has gone on record that it is “to late” to withdraw from the fray now.
In Mandrem, the BJP may have quelled the rebellion of former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar, but it is still undecided on Mapusa where an intense contest is on for the party nomination between Joshua, the son of the late Francis D’Souza and the latter’s aide, Sudhir Khandolkar.
Sawant along with the BJP’s State unit leadership may be called to deal with these difficult political challenges for the party and ensure victory in the polls.
How well he manages the task will not only earn him credibility within the party but also give a fair assessment of whether Sawant has the wherewithal to emulate the iconic role played for the BJP in Goa’s polity by Parrikar.
TESTING TIME AHEAD FOR SAWANT
Lok Sabha and three Assembly by-elections on April 23 will be a big test for 45-year-old Ayurveda practitioner
Party leadership expecting him to lead campaign for Lok Sabha seats and the by-elections to Mandrem, Mapusa, Shiroda and perhaps Panjim, if EC announces date
Despite reports that Gadkari and Shah extracted a commitment from MGP, Deepak Dhavalikar continues to be adamant saying it is “to late” to withdraw now
Immediate task is to placate MGP whose president Deepak Dhavalikar continues to be committed to contest by-elections
In Mandrem, BJP may have quelled Parsekar’s rebellion, but in Mapusa an intense battle is on between Joshua & Khandolkar for the party nomination
