Panaji, April 29 (TNN): The victory may appear less grand as his panel lost in one ward after holding sway in all 11 wards of Taleigao panchayat for the last decade. But while, for St Cruz MLA Atanasio 'Babush' Monserrate, the victory cements his pole position in Taleigao, its has sent BJP scurrying for a plausible explanation to its pathetic performance.
The best explanation BJP could manage was its Taleigao mandal chief Dattaprasad Naik saying they will examine and analyze the results to find out what went wrong.
BJP has not been able to dislodge Monserrate from Taleigao though there are undercurrents of opposition it could have cashed on to wrest control of the panchayat.
Most of its candidates lost badly and the poor performance of the BJP panel, Together for Taleigao (TFT), is being attributed to the lack of political 'will' in the party. "Why did it lose the panchayat poll though it had gained ground in the assembly election of March 2012," asked a BJP insider. A politician who has seen BJP's changing stance in Taleigao since 2002, alleges that BJP did not put up a real fight.
The divisions in the BJP were ripped open when former Panaji mayor Ashok Naik and BJP Taleigao candidate in the 2007 assembly election Agnel Silveira were kept out of the panel. Both joined hands and fielded candidates in seven wards. On the eve of the poll, Silveira told TOI that he not was consulted by BJP when it finalized its candidates for the panel.
BJP leaders, including chief minister Manohar Parrikar, had earlier said they would fight the Monserrate panel but BJP sources say this was not reflected in the campaign. A political observer said, "Their real intention became evident after the panel was declared with all new faces." Questions were raised as to why Silveira and Ashok Naik were not consulted before floating the panel.
Parrikar was hardly seen in Taleigao and it was evident that he didn't display the same enthusiasm and determination he had showed in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Questions were also raised as to why Parrikar couldn't or wouldn't bring the warring faction in the BJP comprising Silveira and Ashok Naik together. This led to speculation that there was some understanding between Monserrate and Parrikar which both camps vehemently denied.
Ashok Naik had categorically stated that Parrikar was not interested in the Taleigao panchayat election. Dattaprasad Naik objected to these allegations and claimed that campaigning in Taleigao was "thorough".
Any understanding between Parrikar and Monserrate could be bared by the Lok Sabha poll results on May 16. How many votes Congress' Ravi Naik and BJP's Shripad Naik poll in the constituencies of St Cruz and Taleigao, would tell the story, an analyst said.
BJP's abject performance does not take away Monserrate's hard work in the campaign for his panel—Taleigao people's democratic front (TPDF). The result was not expected to be so good for Monserrate. In the 2012 assembly poll his wife Jennifer Monserrate on a Congress ticket had won Taleigao with a margin of just 1,151 votes while in the previous elections, husband Babush had been winning with huge margins.
It was expected that the Monserrates, now in the opposition, would find it difficult to keep Taleigao panchayat in their hold, as the BJP is in government in Goa.