BJP govt's appeal to defect

Sandesh Prabhudesai
21 November 2001  

Throwing political morality to winds, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Goa has gone far ahead of all its counterparts in wooing legislators to defect and join the saffron brigade.

Chief minister Manohar Parrikar has now openly appealed two legislators of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, including one of his cabinet colleague, to join the BJP within a week.

"This is not a final ultimatum, but we will be free to resort to further action if they do not respond to the appeal positively", states Parrikar. He however refuses to term his action as engineering defections.

Defection is a key word in Goa nowadays. In fact the BJP, which came to power one year ago by engineering defections, was elected as 10-member opposition in the 40-member House in June ’99 Assembly polls.

A non-entity on Goa’s political scenario till ’94 polls, the BJP sprung up as a ‘party with difference’. After getting four legislators elected initially, it then emerged as the prime opposition in the next elections. While general public was fed up with series of defections since 1990, the BJP took a moral stand on immoral game of defections.

However, soon after ’99 polls, the BJP joined hands with 11 Congress rebels to form a coalition government, by toppling the elected Congress government in five months. The morale-preaching party then pulled out of the coalition in October last year, while admitting 11 defectors in the saffron camp to form the ‘government of its own’.

However, two MGP men – transport minister Pandurang Raut and Economic Development Corporation chairman Sudin Dhawalikar – continued to be part of the government. As their party leaders have recently started criticising the government, a joint meeting of the BJP organisation and legislature party decided to appeal to them to join the ruling party.

Rather than commenting on BJP’s highly immoral act, Parrikar prefers to justify it as a legal act, allowed under the provisions of the anti-defection act. "Such things are not called defections, but a legal split", he adds.

"First time any party has threatened the legislators to defect", observes Congress spokesman Jitendra Deshprabhu, terming it as disgrace to rich democratic traditions of the country.

Reminding that the Congress has set the tradition of defections in Indian polity, BJP spokesman Govind Parvatkar has indirectly confirmed that the appeal is actually a threat. "We do not require the two MGP men to hold numerical strength in the House", he states.

In the 40-member House, the BJP has now swollen to 21, out of which 11 are defectors. Most of these defectors have in fact defected more than twice in the same Assembly, since June 1999.

"The BJP is free to take any action against our people", states MGP general secretary Dr Kashinath Jalmi. Having no option than criticising the BJP to strengthen its base, he continues criticising the government in spite of having his own people governing the state.

Full Coverage of Toppling Games

Your Comments Please