Goa BJP not yet decided over Monohar Parrikar replacement

Indecision a signature trait of the Congress party in Goa over the last few decades appears to have rubbed off on Goa BJP now as the party appears to be struggling to find an alternative to ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar who is currently fighting a battle against advanced pancreatic cancer in Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMSIt was indecision which in 2017 had put paid to the Congresss hopes of installing their Chief Minister even after the party emerged as the singlelargest party in the 40member Goa Legislative Assembly while it was some swift footwork by the BJP especially senior leader Nitin Gadkari who cobbled together a coalition in a sundowntosunrise highpowered networking blitzThis time around it appears that the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP a party associated with quick and firm decisions especially in the Narendra ModiAmit Shah era appears to be faltering on this count as far as Goa is concernedAfter tinkering with the idea of inviting one of the two alliance partners Goa Forward and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party to merge within the BJP and offering one of their senior leaders chief ministership the possibility stands ruled out after stiff opposition from within the partySenior party leaders told BJPs national general secretary incharge of organisational affairs Ram Lal at a meeting last week that dissolving the state Assembly was a preferable option to inviting nonBJP leaders to lead a BJPled ruling dispensationIt is a shortterm solution which could lead to longterm problems within the party We need a solution within the party or we should seek a fresh mandate by dissolving the Assembly a state BJP core team member told IANSInterestingly another strategy which was being toyed with by Parrikar before he was rushed to AIIMS on the explicit instructions of BJP national President Amit Shah was to offer MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar with a deputy chief ministership with the power to officiate as CM which was opposed by the other ally Goa Forwards Vijai SardesaiWhile Parrikar is undergoing treatment at AIIMS his compulsive political antennae is still tickingThe CM BJP sources said has put his foot down on an option most favoured by the partys old guard as well as some Central leaders to bring back his party peer and archrival Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik back to state politics and head the governmentNaik is one of the most popular bahujan samaj a nonBrahmin caste collective leaders in Goa and is considered as the best bet within the BJP to attract the Hindu nonBrahmin caste votes in the upcoming elections to the Lok Sabha which the party has alienated from in the recent past due to the proBrahmin perception of the Parrikarled dispensation in which all key portfolios are retained by Brahmin leadersThe forever reluctant Naik has however been chided for lacking initiative in his political career especially when it came to countering Parrikars growing influence in the Goa BJP over decades at the expense of his ownEven as the BJP grapples to deal with the vacuum generated by Parrikars absence it almost appears to have borrowed a page from Tamil Nadu politics by appearing to have opted to continue with a severely ailing Parrikar at the helm just in the manner J Jayalalitha continued to be the CM despite several weeks of hospitalisationHowever irrespective of a sluggishness of the BJP to arrive at a decision at this crucial juncture life appears to have not changed much for the Congress from its messy 2017 government formation debacle where the party was panned for its slacknessSpeaking to reporters on Friday Congress central observer A Chellakumar said that the party was not in a hurry to form a government in Goa even though Congress leaders insist they have the numbers to cobble up a majorityI am not in a hurry I am telling very clearly I am not in a hurry Congress party is not in a hurry to form government by compromising the interest of the people he saidCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in the headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever