Panaji: More than 25% of BJP candidates for coming cave elections are former Congress members who have no part of the cadre-based party or contested in the previous ticket.
This is a big leap of the last election in 2017, when BJP only imports two members of Congress – Dabolim Mla Mauvin Godinho and Cumbharjua Mla Pandurang Madkaikar – remember the victory factor.
This time, BJP has given a former member of the Ten Tricks Congress – Nilatkanth Halarnkar (TIVIM), the ‘Babush’ Monserrate (Panaji), Jennifer Monserrate (Taleiga), Francisco Silveira (St Andre), Antonio Fernandes (Santa Cruz), Clafasio Dias ( Cuncolim)), Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavalekar (Quepem), Ravi rose (Ponda), Savio Rodrigues (Velim) and Joseph Sequeira (Calangute).
BJP has also given a candidate for two Mlaas – Rohan Khaunte independent in Porvorim and Govind Gaude in Priol, and also to the former GFP Mla Jayesh Salgaonkar.
Khaunte was chosen as an independent MLA in the 2012 and 2017 elections As Saligao Mla for the first time.
In 2017, as soon as the former Defense Minister of Union Manohar Parragar was sworn in as the ministerial chief, Minister of Health and former Congress Mla Vishwajit Rane was the first to resign as Mla Congress to join BJP.
But Rane faced the election and was chosen with BJP tickets.
After the death of Parragar in 2019, only one of the BJP MLA seating from party cadres – Sakhali MLA Pramod Sawant – resulted in him named the ministerial head.
Then that year, there was an exodus to BJP, when ten Congress MLAs were divided into joining.
However, they did not face the election when they combined the Congress legislative party with BJP.
These ten Halarnar, The Monser, Fernandes, Silveira, Dias, Kavalekar, Filipe Nery Rodrigues, Wilfred D’Sa and Isidore Fernandes.
However, some of these stopped the party on the election night because they did not want to compete on BJP tickets.
Others were rejected by tickets, such as the former Canacona Mla Isidore Fernandes and former Minister of Filipe Nery Rodrigues.
Rodrigues previously stated that he did not want to compete in BJP tickets.
D’sa comes out of the party to compete as independent.
Others who joined the Congress and received BJP tickets including Joseph Sequeira (Calangute) and Savio Rodrigues (Velim).
SOPTE is BJP Pernem MLA before joining Congress during the 2012 assembly selection Parsekar.
Political observer Cleofato Almeida Coutinho said that BJP is a cadre-based party unlike Congress, and it has prominent as a party with a difference.
“Taking defectors from Congress means that it has sacrificed a different stand.
Now strength for that.
The strength is now Cement BJP,” he said.