NCP: Why wasn't Modi's potential used in 2012 Goa polls?

The Nationalist Congress Party Friday accused Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of doublespeak, and asked why was Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, if he had so much potential, not allowed to campaign in Goa in March 2012.

Speaking to reporters here, NCP spokesperson Trajano D'Mello said: "If Narendra Modi can catapult BJP to power in India, then why did the BJP consciously not bring Modi to Goa for campaigning during the 2012 polls? Is it because they were scared that there would be a backlash of the Christian voters, who account for over 25 percent of total voters here?"

Parrikar, while speaking on a national television news channel Thursday, said that the Gujarat chief minister had the potential to launch the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into power in the forthcoming general elections.

"Modi can catapult BJP to power. He will take us closer to government formation at the centre," Parrikar said.

D'Mello claimed that Parrikar's confidence in Modi's ability to pull votes was "new found".

"Where was such confidence in Modi's ability when the state BJP was heading for elections in Goa? Why did they keep Modi at an arm's length then?" D'Mello asked.

In a ground-breaking strategy, the Goa BJP had allotted one-third of the tickets (BJP contested 24 of the 40 assembly seats) to Christian candidates, a move which yielded high dividends for the party, considering Christians account for over 25 percent of the state's 15 lakh population.

Initial suggestions made by the state party unit to bring in Narendra Modi to campaign in Goa were then shot down by Christian candidates, who feared a backlash in their respective constituencies.