Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal met with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) head Sudin Dhavalikar at a city hotel on Tuesday, sparking speculation that the two parties could negotiate a coalition before the 2022 general elections.
Kejriwal, who is currently staying in a hotel in the Dona Paula area of the capital, spent the rest of the day holding a series of meetings with local party leaders. In the middle, he met Dhavalikar's brothers, Ramkrishna "Sudin" Dhavalikar and his younger brother Pandurang "Deepak" Dhavalikar, who played a key role in the MGP.
Kejriwal last year announced his party's decision to run in the by-elections in provinces such as Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat. There was no word from Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) when it met with local groups in Goa. Kejriwal did not speak to the media on Tuesday but will speak at a press conference on Wednesday.
AAP state facilitator Rahul Mhambre referred to internal meetings only. "There were a series of meetings that involved the AAP local leadership including individual meetings," he told tp the reporters.
Sudin Dhavalikar emphasized that his meeting with Kejriwal was a way of honor. “There is nothing about that yet. This was just a good visit, ”said Sudin Dhavalikar, repeating many questions about speculation about his meeting with Kejriwal.
“There is nothing about the alliance. We talked about the good work he has done and the good work I have done in terms of water supply in Goa, ”said Sudin.
“We have not been together for a long time ... now for two months because of a corona we have never met. He had even come to Goa once (recently) but we could not meet. I should have gone to Delhi but I didn't have time, ”
Sudin Dhavalikar's MGP was once a powerful regional party that ruled Goa in the first three decades after its release in 1961, giving Goa its first CM Bhausaheb Bandodkar. The MGP, which had a dedicated base of support within the politically powerful country Bahujan Samaj, however, has largely lost its sheen. The party was able to be part of all Goa governments between 1999 and 2019 when Sudin Dhavalikar was left homeless.
Three MGP officials have played a key role in helping the BJP seize power in Goa despite having only 13 seats in the 40-member house. Pramod Sawant, who took over the government after the death of Manohar Parrikar, appointed Sudin Dhavalikar as deputy CM of the State on March 17, 2019 but stripped him of his posts within a week. Two Dhavalikar officials also defected to the government of the Baratati Janata Party led by Sawant. The MGP, which had three members, was left with only one, Sudin Dhavalikar.
Earlier this month, Dhavalikar revealed that the MGP had no intention of aligning with the BJP or Congress, saying the party was not interested in allying with national organizations before the election.
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