PANAJI : Stating that he has been deeply hurt due to the attitude of some of the state leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party who are taking him for granted, Union Minister of State for AYUSH (independent charge) Shripad Naik on Tuesday said that these leaders are responsible for vitiating the transparent atmosphere in the party at the local level.
Speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’, Naik said that he was unhappy with the induction of the former Congress MLAs namely Mauvin Godinho and Pandurang Madkaikar in the BJP, and had made it amply clear to state leaders of the party, when the decision to import the two Congressmen in the BJP was conveyed to him.
“In spite of fully knowing my view on this matter, the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar publicly stated that I had given my consent to the particular decision,” he added, pointing out that the situation had created a misunderstanding between him and his son Siddhesh Naik. Incidentally, Siddhesh Naik is aspiring to contest on the BJP ticket in the Cumbharjua constituency, which now in all possibility, would have Madkaikar as the BJP’s candidate.
The four-time Member of Parliament from North Goa, who is also the member of the state BJP core committee said, “I genuinely felt that the entry of Congressmen such as Madkaikar and Godinho would do more harm to the BJP than benefit the party at the forthcoming state assembly election.”
“I am a loyal party worker and had opposed their entry with the interest of the party in mind, and nothing else,” he noted.
Ironically, during a debate in the state legislative assembly, Parrikar in the capacity of the state chief minister had then accused Madkaikar of indulging in a land scam.
“I am deeply hurt, more so because I was similarly treated before the 2012 state assembly election over the issue of contesting the election from the Porvorim constituency,” Shripad Naik stated.
He had backed out gracefully from contesting the election from Porvorim constituency when the ticket was denied to him.
When questioned why he was not seen in all the Vijay Sankalp public meetings of the BJP currently being held around the state, the Union Minister of State for AYUSH (independent charge) said that whenever he was in Goa, he made it a point to attend all such public meetings. “However, I did not attend the Cumbharjua Vijay Sankalp meeting because they (BJP leaders) did not follow the protocol,” he observed.
When asked if he would now disassociate himself from the election campaign of the BJP for the 2017 state assembly polls, Shripad Naik said that he would not do so.
“I want my party to come back to power in Goa, and hence I would actively participate in the election campaign,” he noted.
