Summary:
PANAJI: The BJP on Thursday appeared to be nonchalant about the decision of its coalition partner, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), to contest byelections in Mandrem and Shiroda. “MGP leaders have told us that the party’s central committee doesn’t listen to them and seeks to contest the byelections. Parrikar had subsequently held a round of talks with MGP leaders in a bid to convince them not to contest the byelections. Nothing has been finalised,” Tendulkar said.On January 3, MGP president Pandurang Dhavalikar sounded the bugle against the BJP in Shiroda, virtually launching his campaign by invoking blessings at temples in the constituency. Political observers say if the BJP is unable to dissuade the MGP from contesting the bypolls, winning both seats will be challenging.The need for byelections in Shiroda and Mandrem arose after former Congress MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte quit the party and joined the BJP..