From being perceived as a political non-entity to becoming Goa's dominant ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not only built itself brick-by-brick over the years but also given the state its longest serving chief minister, say its leaders.

As the BJP celebrates its foundation day on Sunday, its senior leaders recalled how the BJP's journey in the coastal state has been of perseverance and hard work by its stalwarts, including late Manohar Parrikar, at the ground level.

Goa saw political volatility for several years, but Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who is now the longest serving CM of the state, has earned praise from his party colleagues and political analysts for striving to provide a stable government in the state.

The BJP was founded in 1980 by leaders of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a party which had merged with other opposition parties to form the Janata Party to take on the Congress in the post-Emergency 1977 polls.

"We were mocked at when we used to go around to establish the BJP's presence in the state. They (people) used to call us 'Bhaji Pav' party. Many people didn't even offer us a seat when we used to visit their homes propagating the party's ideology," Govind Parvatkar, one of the oldest leaders of the party, said.

"There was always a question asked...Why we require another party in Goa when the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) already existed in the state?" he said.

The MGP was established after Goa's liberation from the Portuguese rule in 1961 and ruled the state for almost 18 years. Its leader Dayanand Bandodkar was the first Chief Minister of the state.

Parvatkar said it took time for the people to accept BJP's ideology in the state.

Another senior party leader Pandurang Sawant, father of CM Pramod Sawant, said, "The Janata Party had been getting established in India and at the same time leaders in Goa were busy creating a network of workers in the state."

Pandurang Sawant, who was then working with a mining company, was among the first 30 candidates who contested the state assembly poll on the Janata Party ticket in 1977.

"I could not win but I could sense there was a need for an alternate party in Goa. Three candidates out of 30 won on the Janata Party ticket in 1977," he recalled.

Dr Jack Sequeira (St Cruz), Madhav Bir (Panaji) and Ferdin Rebello (Cuncolim) won the poll.

This election led people to think about an alternate party in the state, Pandurang Sawant said.

The BJP first contested the election in Goa in 1984 and then in 1989, but without any success. Kashinath Parab was the first chief of Goa BJP.

However, the Goa politics took a new turn when the BJP forged an alliance with the MGP in 1994 for elections to the 40-member Assembly.

The BJP contested 12 seats and bagged four, with Parrikar (Panaji), Digambar Kamat (Margao), Narahari Haldankar (Sattari) and Shripad Naik (Marcaim) emerging victorious.

"I still remember, when we won on the BJP ticket, that was the party's entry in the state. No one could imagine that we will win. We celebrated the entire day," Haldankar said.

"1990s was the time when had to draw our party symbol on a paper and go around house-to-house convincing people to vote for it," said Haldankar, who has also served as Goa assembly's deputy speaker.

He credits the BJP's victory to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and outfits like Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Senior journalist Vaman Prabhu, who has penned a book on Parrikar, recalled how the performance of these four leaders, especially Parrikar, led to the BJP excelling in the state.

Parrikar used tools like the Right to Information to expose the then Congress government, and he became popular in the state, another local journalist Gurudas Sawal said.

"People started looking up at Parrikar as someone who exposes corruption. He was also media-friendly," Sawal said.

Later, the BJP contested the 1999 state polls on its own and 10 of its candidates won. Parrikar became Chief Minister of Goa for the first time in October 2000, but his tenure lasted only until February 2002.

The BJP became the single largest party in the assembly after the elections in 2002 by winning 17 seats and formed its government.

In June 2002, Parrikar was re-elected and served another term as chief

minister.