Nilesh Cabral’s catapult from the wings to centre stage

MARGAO: From a rank outsider for the BJP parivar when he contested the state assembly elections for the first time in 2012 to becoming the BJP’s minority face, post the 2017 assembly elections, Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral’s induction in the state cabinet is being viewed in political circles as a reinforcement of his position in the saffron party.
Cabral entered the portals of the assembly in 2012 stemming resentment among the RSS cadre over his nomination as the party candidate from Curchorem.The BJP, however, prevailed upon the RSS cadre to rally behind Cabral. This ensured his victory over Congress candidate Shyam Satardekar. Once a close confidante of Satardekar, Cabral had put his heart and soul in Satardekar’s election campaign during the 2007 assembly elections but later fell out with him over some business-related issues. The result, both were pitted against each other in the 2012 polls and once again in the 2017 elections.
Satardekar contested as a Goa Suraksha Manch candidate with the RSS cadres, supporting rebel RSS leader Subhash Velingker, and working against Cabral.
The 45-year old mining engineer owns a fleet of mining trucks and earth-moving machines. Following the cancellation of leases of 88 mines by the Supreme Court earlier this year, Cabral along with other legislators from the mining belt, has been a strong votary for amendments in the Goa Daman and Diu Mining Concession (Abolition and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987, to facilitate resumption of mining.
As spokesperson of the BJP, Cabral was fielded by the saffron party to take on the Church whenever controversies concerning minorities threatened to turn counter-productive for the BJP. Recently, when an article in the Church magazine, Renovacao, drew parallels between contemporary Goan politics under Parrikar and Germany under the Nazis, Cabral came down heavily on the Church for having allowed “such articles” to be published in its official magazine.