Vinay Tendulkar, president of the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, interacting with Ramnath N Pai Raikar maintains that all the Catholic candidates fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the forthcoming state assembly election are due to their ‘winability’ and not religion
Q: One of the main factors, which brought the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in 2021, was the backing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh it had during its electoral campaign. Do you feel absence of this backing today?
If you are speaking about the Nagpur-based Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh then we have its backing. In fact, the Bharatiya Janata Party is always backed by the Sangh Parivar. However, we can’t possibly expect the support of the Goa-based breakaway faction of the RSS, which has differences with the BJP government. Can we?
Q: Close friends and supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party like Krishnaraj ‘Raju’ Sukerkar are today standing in its opposition. Will this have any impact on the prospects of the BJP at the forthcoming state assembly election?
No. Nothing at all! It is a fact that anyone desiring to contest the election needs to necessarily work in a political party and have grassroots contacts. Anyone setting up a new political party at the last moment and filing nomination papers doesn’t work out here. It is also necessary that one has to have experience of at least two years in the field of politics and social work before facing the election. The party should also have a network of booths, booth committees, booth workers, and so on. The work of a political party begins from all these things. In the absence of a strong base pertaining to public work, any new political party is certain to falter.
Q: This time you will be fielding more Catholic candidates as compared to the last state assembly election here. Is this a deliberate attempt to attract the Catholic voters?
We have strictly selected those candidates who have more chances to win at the election. It is nothing new; we had also followed the same pattern during the last state assembly election, when a total of six Catholic candidates were fielded by us. The ‘winability’ factor prompted us to give candidature to the selected candidates. Now if the selected candidates for certain constituencies happen to be Catholics then it has happened naturally and not deliberately. Now take for example Curchorem or Vasco constituencies. These constituencies have 60 to 70 per cent Hindu voters. However, party’s survey revealed that our sitting Catholic MLAs in these constituencies, are way ahead of anyone else in terms of ‘winability’. Therefore they were selected by our selection committee. The same I would say is true for the Mapusa constituency. We have never planned to put up Catholic candidates in certain constituencies. It just happened that way.
Q: Do you think heavy restrictions imposed by the Election Commission of India on the election propaganda of the political parties will have an adverse impact on the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is known for taking up attractive electoral campaigns?
Frankly speaking, we had started party’s campaign one year ago. Our booths and mandals have already completed three to four rounds of campaigning till this point of time in various parts of Goa. We have also completed door-to-door campaigning. The party further has taken various government schemes to the people. Now the last round of our campaigning would be held after filing of nomination papers by party’s candidates. This would include public meetings addressed by our senior national leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So there should be no problem for us, in terms of our campaigning.
Q: Do you foresee the Bharatiya Janata Party going for post-poll alliance with any political party, in case it fails to reach the magic figure of 21?
Looking at the prevailing political atmosphere in Goa, I don’t think that the Bharatiya Janata Party would need any outside help to form the government, after the election. We will be able to come to power on our own. We will definitely secure majority in the state assembly.
Q: You have predicted 26 seats for your party at this state assembly election, which is five seats more than what your party won last time when there was a strong BJP wave. Are you being overconfident?
We have made this prediction on the basis of work of our government. During last election, the BJP had lost seats in constituencies like Bicholim, Poriem, Dabolim and Quepem. We also went into an alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and hence allowed that party to win in Ponda, Priol and Ponda constituencies. Taking into consideration all these factors, we have come to the conclusion that the BJP would win 26 seats. Furthermore, out of the 27 seats contested by us during the 2012 state assembly election, we won in 21 constituencies. Proportionately, we expect to win in 26 constituencies, now that we are fielding candidates in 37 constituencies.
Q: Lastly, you personally have been away from contesting the elections for quite some time. Do you feel that you should now contest the polls, especially as you have experience as a MLA and also a minister?
I am ready to contest the forthcoming state assembly election if the party directs me to do so. However, becoming a MLA is not my only objective. As a state party president, it is my duty to bring BJP back to power in Goa. And I want to bring it in power with great style. I am targeting to get 26 seats for my party. As for my experience as a MLA, my colleague in the state unit of the party, Sadanand Tanavde also has experience as a MLA, but he too is working for strengthening the party.