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Parrikar’s role in Goa unenviable CAMIL PARKHE |  Sunday, 19 March 2017 AT 02:23 PM IST       CAMIL PARKHE ,  Manohar Parrikar ,  Goa ,  CM Finally, the BJP has formed a coalition government in Goa, albeit with reduced seats as compared to the previous house. This indicates that Manohar Parrikar, who has been sworn in as chief minister for the fourth term, will have a daunting task in retaining power for the full fiver-year term in the tiny state. The fractured mandate in Goa has created problems for the two main political parties in the state, the BJP and the Congress. The defeat of Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and seven members of his Cabinet has served a big jolt for the BJP, which had been on a climbing graph in the state for over one-and-half decades. The BJP's strength in the House has been reduced from 21 to 13. The opposition Congress had won 17 seats, almost double of its tally in the previous House, and four seats more t...

From MGP bastion to BJP ruled state, where is Goa headed now? CAMIL PARKHE |  Tuesday, 31 January 2017 AT 09:16 PM IST          goo.gl/wn5zWN    Goa ,  assembly polls ,  political scenario Goa is the only territory in the country where a referendum was conducted to decide its fate; to exit an an independent entity or to merge into the neighbouring Maharashtra as one of its districts. The referendum was held soon after the liberation of Goa, Daman and Diu from the foreign Portuguese rule in 1961. Besides the referendum, there are many some other characteristics and features which makes this smallest state in the country, a unique territory. During the first two decades after Goa’s liberation, the politics in the erstwhile Union Territory was dominated by the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) having support among mainly the Hindus and the United Goans Party which had strong base among the Catholics and the upper caste...

Ex-Goa RSS leader defiant as BJP struggles to retain Christian vote bank Sakal Times CAMIL PARKHE |  Wednesday, 7 September 2016 AT 09:37 AM IST       blog ,  in my opinion ,  Subhash Velingkar ,  RSS ,  BJP ,  Goa election ,  assembly election ,  Manohar Parrikar , Camil Parkhe ,  Sakal Times Although this is not the first time that an RSS leader has defied the organisation, the gauntlet thrown by ex-Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar is indeed unprecedented in many ways. Velingkar’s defiance has put RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and BJP President Amit Shah in a quandary and at the same time, puts a question mark over the fate of Goa’s ruling party BJP in the imminent State Assembly polls. The unrepentant stance of Velingkar and his supporters has placed both Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on a sticky wicket. Soon after he was unceremoniously removed from the post of c...

It’s RSS versus BJP Goa govt battle on language row Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE |  Wednesday, 4 May 2016 AT 11:47 PM IST       Goa ,  language row ,  Camil Parkhe     http://goo.gl/JAiu3a Language has always been a sensitive issue in Goa even when this tiny territory was ruled by the Portuguese over 450 years. Now, the latest row is over the medium of instruction in government-funded schools. For the past few months, Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM), an association affiliated to the Sangh Parivar, has been spearheading an agitation to seek an end to government grants to the English medium schools. The BBSM wants the government grants to be given only to  schools having Marathi or Konkani as the medium of instruction. It is pertinent to note that a majority of the English medium schools receiving government grants are church-owned schools. The issue of medium of instruction in school has threatened to become a majo...