'What Indiscipline, Where Was It?'

'His dismissal could backfire -- not just as a PR problem, but as a crack in the BJP's coalition of castes and communities.'

In the littoral state of Goa political exits are rarely silent. They make waves.

And sacked Goa cabinet minister Govind Gaude is just doing that even as he vows that he remains a staunch soldier of the Bhjaratiya Janata Party.

Dropped from Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's cabinet on June 19 for alleged 'indiscipline,' Gaude is doing anything but toeing the party line. Instead, he's out front, questioning not just the justification for his ouster but the very legitimacy of the BJP's disciplinary mechanisms.

In an interview with Rediff's Prasanna D Zore, Gaude minces no words, launching a biting counter-offensive. When asked whether he was informed about the decision in advance or given any explanation, his tone turns sharp.

"What indiscipline? Where was the indiscipline? Did you see anything in the media?"

His words aren't just rhetorical. They are a challenge -- one aimed squarely at the people who made the decision to sack him.

"How did you come to know?"

The interview begins with a simple question: Were you informed in advance? Were you given a reason?

"I've already tweeted about this," Gaude gives his oft-repeated reply coolly. "That's my answer. Whatever else I need to say, I'll say in time."

But it was what came next that made it clear -- Gaude wasn't in the mood for niceties.

"How did you come to know?" he asks this correspondent. "What made you ask me this question?"

It was as if he was pointing out the absurdity of the situation: That the media knew as little as he did. That decision was being made behind closed doors, with no accountability and no conversation.

Gaude isn't just questioning the journalist. He sound as if he is questioning the system.

'Did you see anything in the media?'

Over and over, Gaude repeats the question.

"Where was the indiscipline?"

"Did you see anything in the media?"

"Did you find anything?"

The repetition isn't frustration -- it seems like it is repeatedly directed towards the BJP leaders who made this decision.

It was his way of underscoring a central point: There is no public record, no speech, no act that justifies what happened. No one -- not the BJP, not the media -- has pointed to a single moment that can explain why he was removed.

And that's exactly what Gaude wants the public to see.

The backstory no one is spelling out

Gaude's ouster didn't come out of nowhere. In the weeks before he was dropped, he had reportedly flagged irregularities in the tribal welfare department -- a department that had once been under his charge, but was moved to Chief Minister Sawant himself during a recent reshuffle, a signal he seems to have missed.

BJP insiders suggest that Gaude's boldness didn't sit well with the top brass. His growing independence, especially as a prominent scheduled tribe leader, may have made him a liability for a party keen on tight control and public messaging discipline.

But that's just speculation. The BJP hasn't officially said a word -- other than the term 'indiscipline,' left floating without context.

Gaude's response? "If you have something to say, say it openly. Show the public what you're calling 'indiscipline'." Or stop using the word as a smokescreen.

A minister punished for speaking up?

The timing has also raised eyebrows. Goa goes to the polls in less than two years. Gaude, a self-made politician and powerful voice among the state's tribal communities, is being seen as a crucial link between the BJP and a key vote bank.

"His dismissal could backfire -- not just as a PR problem, but as a crack in the BJP's coalition of castes and communities," says a BJP functionary from Goa who is close to the sacked minister.

Tribal groups are already raising concerns about whether Gaude's voice was silenced not because of what he did wrong -- but because of what he did right.

In the interview, Gaude didn't once raise his voice. But the edge in his tone was unmistakable. He isn't a man asking for sympathy. He is a man daring his party to tell the truth.

Not going quietly

While what happens next is anyone's guess, Gaude vows that he remains a staunch soldier of his party and will abide by all the decisions of the party's leadership even as he blames state BJP leaders for his unceremonious exit.

"My sacking without giving me any chance to explain myself amply proves that," he says when asked if his own colleagues wanted to see his back.

"If you heed the feedback of the people of Goa only then will you believe that Govind Gaude is the best performing minister in the state," the former arts, culture and tribal welfare minister says.

"You are the media. You find out," Gaude dares when asked to name the leaders who he thinks are responsible for his sacking.

Will Gaude continue with the BJP? Or will this rupture lead him elsewhere -- to another party, or to a more independent political future? He hasn't said yet. But one thing is clear: he won't be shoved into a corner quietly.

"I believe in the BJP's ideology and I shall always remain the party's loyal soldier. If my party thinks that I have made a mistake then there's nothing more I can do. That is their wish," says Gaude, a former Congressman, when asked about his plans after being sacked.

At times, Gaude even plays safe. "My sacking has got nothing to do with my party leaders. It is the governor who has done this (sacked me)," he adds, leaving some room open for negotiation.

He also refuses to accept that his sacking was done with the blessings of the BJP's central leadership. "I don't know if he (state BJP president Damu Naik) was in touch (with the BJP's central leadership)."

"Why not? Why do you think I will quit my party (because they have sacked me)?" he counters when asked if he is contemplating going back to his parent party, the Congress, from which he contested two elections -- from Marcaim in 2007 and Priol in 2012 -- and lost. Gaude joined the BJP in 2022 and won the Priol assembly seat in the same year.

However, the parting shot he delivers offers a clue about what is going on his mind. "Who has seen the future? Who has seen the future? That said, I remain a BJP MLA," is how he ends this interview given partly in English but mostly in Marathi.