Special Correspondent
Panaji
Goa unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to have a new president, who will replace the incumbent state party chief Sadanand Tanavade later this month.
Narendra Sawaikar, Damodar ‘Damu’ Naik, Dilip Parulekar, Dayanand Mandrekar and Dayanand Sopte are some of the aspirants for the post and also under consideration of the party. Sawaikar has been a Member of Parliament, while others were former MLAs.
Tanavade, who was the then state BJP general secretary, was elected unopposed to the coveted position on January 12, 2020. He took over the responsibility from Vinay Tendulkar.
The person who will now be elected as the state BJP chief, besides other things, will have to shoulder the responsibility of taking the party to power at the 2027 Goa assembly polls.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, with the backdrop of this scenario, has already started convening meetings attended by important state leaders of the party for selecting a suitable candidate to run for the particular election.
When Tanavade was elected as the Rajya Sabha member from Goa in July 2023, the party did not toe its line of one-person-one post, and let Tanavade continue as the state BJP president. The decision was probably taken, as he had already taken BJP to its victory at the 2022 state assembly polls and there was no party member in sight as his immediate replacement.
Sawaikar lost at the 2019 Lok Sabha election, while Naik, Parulekar, Mandrekar and Sopte have lost assembly elections multiple times. In a way, the post of the state party president can be rehabilitation for them.
However, the BJP is looking beyond the rehabilitation aspect, as it is already facing massive anti-incumbency due to issues like land grab scam and cash for job scam, and the new state president needs to counter this problem to take the party to victory at the 2027 state assembly election.
Furthermore, Vinay Tendulkar, Datta Kholkar, Prakash Velip, Govind Parvatkar are also some other state party leaders, who could be eyeing the post. However, they have a lesser chance of being considered.
It is evident that the party has no big Catholic leader, who could be considered for the post. Furthermore, the Hindu caste equation will also be important while deciding the new state party president. Sopte, belonging to Bhandari community, and Prakash Velip, a Scheduled Tribe leader, could have an upper hand.
Interestingly, a party source said that Subhash Phaldessai, a minister in the state cabinet, who belongs to the Kshatriya Maratha community – same as the Chief Minister – may have to sacrifice his cabinet berth to become the next state BJP president.
Meanwhile, Tanavade on Thursday said BJP is not relying on the weaknesses of its political rivals, but rather on its own strengths to secure victory in the upcoming elections.
Addressing media following a meeting with party legislators and key workers from South Goa district at the Margao office, Tanavade said preparations for the 2027 assembly elections are already under way.
The party has initiated groundwork by establishing booth, Mandal and Zilla level committees that will collaborate closely in the forthcoming state elections, he said.
