Caste card, luck repeatedly back Milind Naik

PANAJI: Being a member of the Bahujan Samaj has always proven to be a trump card for three-time Mormugao MLA Milind Naik. His induction into the cabinet on Monday once again saw his caste work in his favour, as the combination of being a member of the Bhandari caste and South Goa MLA happened to be exactly what the BJP had been looking for ahead of the 2019 parliamentary polls.

Belonging to a middle-class family from the port town, Naik came up the hard way.A construction contractor, he was first elected as councillor in the Mormugao Municipal Council. Two-and-a-half years later, in 2007, he contested on the BJP ticket for the first time and got elected at first attempt.
After the 2012 polls, Naik was fortunate again to be chosen over other experienced choices to be inducted as minister in the cabinet with a strong portfolio like power. Naik did not find popularity as power minister, as he did not display the tact expected of a minister in his dealings.
This was also the case in his constituency, where the 2017 elections saw him being elected by a sliver of a margin — just 140 votes — against Congress’ Sankalp Amonkar.
The odds were stacked against Naik for the 2017 polls. “The first time in 2007 he had won by 2,700 votes. In 2017, anti-incumbency also played a role, as he had served two terms as MLA already. He shares a good rapport with MPT workers,” said a Mormugao local.
Prior to the elections, matters worsened. A 35-year-old alleged that Naik had molested her and filed a police complaint against him. Then, during the election campaigning, the flying squad raided his office and seized cash of Rs 53,000.
Yet, Naik, who still continues to deal in construction contracts, managed to emerge a lucky victor. However, the Naik could not celebrate his almost miraculous victory. His ailing brother passed away on the day of the counting of the votes.
While Naik did not make it to the cabinet in the BJP-led coalition government initially, luck again played its part 18 months later when the stars aligned to create the right circumstances for his induction into the cabinet. With two ministers and the chief minister ailing, the party’s central leadership decided to distribute their portfolios and induct new ministers.
“Naik is a non-cadre. And in the 2007 polls, the BJP had almost finalised party worker Rohini Parab for the ticket. But Naik was close to Shripad Naik and belonged to the Bhandari Samaj. This went in his favour and Naik won the ticket at the last minute. He then won that poll in 2007, the very first time, and this got him noticed by party leaders,” said an observer.
Observers say that, besides his caste, being non-critical of the BJP government in the state and being a silent spectator could have also gone in his favour this time around.