By Marcellus D’Souza

Apr 11: The induction of Sudin Dhavalikar in the Cabinet of Pramod Sawant on Saturday may have brought to an end the suspense surrounding his inclusion or exclusion. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) had extended its support to the government on the day the results (March 10), of the recently held assembly elections. The deal was stitched together by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who said the BJP and the MGP were on the same page as far as ideologies go.

CM Pramod Sawant chose to ignore the support of the three MLAs extended to his government. Sudin Dhavalikar just cannot be ignored. He is seen as the harbinger of the Hindutva ideology. He is perceived as a hardliner as far as Hinduism is concerned. His first utterance on being sworn into the Pramod Sawant cabinet was that “he wants to be part of the BJP-led coalition government's vision for rebuilding temples destroyed during the Portuguese colonial era”. He expounds right wing politics.

Sudin Dhavalikar repeated what he had said in December 2021, “I had made a statement that three temples broken by the Portuguese have been rebuilt by the devotees and trustees. Wherever, there is an empty place, where these temples once were that process should begin. Some temples have been relocated. But the places in which the temples have been broken, if there are efforts to rebuild them then it is our duty to help such efforts. This is where there are no other structures at the site. It is our duty to upkeep what has been left by our ancestors”.

In 2018, Sudin Dhavalikar defended the Sanatan Sanstha, saying “it is working in the interest of Hindu culture and religion and is not against the country”. This was following a sting operation, which claimed the Goa-based right-wing outfit enjoyed political patronage due to which it escaped a ban after its alleged role in the 2009 Margao bomb blast. Even in 2022, Sudin Dhavalikar is considered the ‘upholder of Hindutva ideology”. That is what Devendra Fadnavis inferred when termed the marriage between the MGP and BJP as “a relationship because both parties were ‘ideologically aligned’”.

The 65-year-old civil contractor-turned-politician, Dhavalikar, joined the MGP in the early 1990s. Since then, he has remained a loyal MGP party worker. The MGP is Goa’s oldest and indigenous political party. It was founded by Dayanand Bandodkar, Goa’s first chief minister in 1963 after being liberated from the Portuguese rule. Sudin Dhavalikar comes across as an ‘egoists’ and ‘self centered’. All it takes is a minor issue to create a ‘revolt’ and as seen in the past, he loves it his way or not at all. This makes him important in the body politics of Goa.

However, vital questions remain unanswered. Will Ravi Naik be able to work along with Sudin Dhavalikar with whom he has differed on many an issue and will Sudin Dhavalikar play a positive role in his present avatar or rock the Pramod Sawant boat once again, as in the past?

When Sudin Dhavalikar offered his ‘unconditional support’ to the government, in which he is now a minister of, Ponda MLA Ravi Naik and Panjim MLA ‘Babush’ Atanasio Monserrate. Former chief minister Ravi Naik did never welcomed the support. In fact Ravi Naik skipped the swearing-in ceremony to record his protest on the induction of Sudin Dhavalikar. Ravi Naik maintains that accepting the support of MGP to prop up the government was unnecessary. The BJP had won 20 seats on its own and were given the support of three MLAs.

In 2017, Sudin Dhavalikar created a controversy when he believed the notion of ‘Goemkarponn’ is ambiguous. He had then insulated that ‘Goemkarponn’ should have wider reach and cannot ignore Konkani or Marathi and non-Goans settled in Goa. He had said, “It is very easy to talk about Goem, Goemkar and Goemkarponn. Anybody will utter it easily. But we have to discuss about the era of Kadamba dynasty, Portuguese regime and present era of Goa, which is part of India after liberation. We should consider all these aspects and also should protect the 8.5 lakh ‘Goemkars’ from other states who have settled in Goa. We should also ponder on whether notion of ‘Goemkarponn’ also includes some aspects of the Portuguese regime”. He openly disagreed with Ravi Naik’s insistence that ‘Goemkarponn’ was protected even during the ‘Opinion Poll’ and there was no need to revive it, Sudin Dhavalikar opined: “Some MGP members think Goa should have been merged with Maharashtra. But let me be very clear that the description of ‘Goenkar’ and ‘Goemkarponn’ is still not clear and it needs clarity”.

Atanasio 'Babush' Monserrate, had on the day of the results were declared had said, ““MGP should not reap benefits of the BJP government and then later start its monkey tricks at the end of the term. I don’t want history to repeat. Let us be a part of one family. You want to be part of the government, then come and merge with BJP”.

Besides being a former Deputy Chief Minister and six-term member representing the Marcaim constituency, Sudin Dhavalikar is seen as being highly unreliable. He fought the elections bad mouthing the BJP. He is on record to have said, he “would never support any government led by Pramod Sawant”. Relations between the BJP and MGP had frayed in 2019, when two MGP legislators joined the BJP overnight and Pramod Sawant was forced to drop Sudin Dhavalikar from his cabinet after he refused to accept the common minimum programme of the government.

During government formation following the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar, Sudin Dhavalikar had agreed not to “complicate matters in Shiroda by fielding a candidate in Shiroda by-elections by fielding a candidate” but this promise was broken, although Sudin Dhavalikar was offered the post of Deputy Chief Minister.

Sudin Dhavalikar was a minister in the Manohar Parrikar-led government but his relationship has never been conducive. He has often not toed the line of the government and has preferred to think differently putting his personal preferences above the accepted line of thought. Sudin Dhavalikar has been a minister in Congress government as well. He has held important portfolios such as the Public Works Department, Fisheries and Transport in the governments led by BJP’s Manohar Parrikar and Laxmikant Parsekar and Congress’ Pratapsingh Rane and Digambar Kamat.
As Sudin Dhavalikar awaits his portfolio, that will be allocated to him he says smilingly, “Whenever I have extended support to a party, I have given a stable government. This time people have voted for ‘parivartan’ or change and that ‘parivartan’ is a stable government”.