Bhandaris flex muscles, across party lines
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 15 July 2013 18:50 IST
Bhandari community, which comprises a major section of Hindu Bahujan Samaj of Goa, has flexed its muscles ‘politically’ once again.
Four major leaders of the Bhandari community – Congress leader Ravi Naik, BJP leader Shripad Naik, minister Dayanand Mandrekar and BJP rebellion Vishnu Wagh – came together yesterday, to fight together the ‘political onslaught.’
In fact Wagh, in a public function of the Bhandari Samaj held to felicitate the meritorious students, warned his own government while serving a deadline of March, to grant 27 per cent reservations for the OBC.
“We will wait till March next year and then start a mass agitation if reservations are not granted”, said St Andre’s ruling party MLA Wagh, amidst applause.
After the function, reports indicate that around 100 major activists of the community, along with these four political leaders, had a meeting to chalk out a political strategy on the eve of forthcoming Parliamentary election.
A serious note believed to have been taken of the ongoing attempts to suppress the community by systematically sidelining its leaders from taking the political centre stage.
The leaders believed to have agreed to fight this conspiracy unitedly, no matter which party the sidelined leaders belong to.
While Ravi is completely sidelined in the Congress camp, attempts are believed to have been going on to try and deny ticket of North Goa to the BJP’s sitting MP Shripad Naik.
The meeting learnt to have also decided to try for an amicable settlement between the two factions of the Bhandari community, making its group leaders aware of the ‘divide and rule’ policy of some vested interests.
The Bhandari Samaj was vertically divided a year ago with two factions fighting for the leadership of the organisation.
