When was the last time you heard a new Chief Minister say that he will be the face of the party in the next elections, within 72 hours of being sworn in. As Laxmikant Parsekar slipped into the Chief Minister’s chair, he seemed to slip out of Manohar Parrikar’s shadow and confirm what Herald has believed all along. He has been placed there to move as much away from Parrikar in an attempt to put an end to the “one man show”.
While we had argued that Parsekar needs to be his own man and play a quiet innings, what he has done is positioned himself at par with Parrikar, to the point of being dismissive of the “Parrikar is BJP and BJP is Parrikar” tag the party had. In an exclusive interview to HCN, the TV channel of the Herald group he said “Since I’m the Chief Minister I will definitely be the face”. While this statement, though significant, can still be passed off as stating the obvious – though it is not quite – his next statement is more important “Victory in 2012 was collective. Parrikar was projected as the face but the election was fought by the party”.
His next comment to HCN needs to be read and absorbed to get the full impact.“I was Goa unit chief of the party during the polls, so naturally I was the second priority after Parrikar. In other states, the party president’s get the priority to become the chief minister. If I had to pitch in for the post of Chief Minister along with Parrikar, then the party would not have succeeded. I would have been busy selecting candidates who would support me after the polls. But that never happened. So my role was also favourable for the party to win the 2012 polls. “The elections were won unitedly”. It’s abundantly clear that what Chief Minister Mr Parsekar means is that he did a favour to the party by not sabotaging its chances by choosing and fielding his own candidates to pose a challenge to Mr Parrikar in a post poll scenario. He actually counts the fact that he did not pitch his case for the CM’s post, as a plus in favour of the party.
What Mr Parsekar has done is to place himself as an equal to Mr Parrikar less than 72 hours after he managed to get the backing of the RSS and become Chief Minister against the wishes of Mr Parrikar. This is bad timing. Even Mr Parrikar’s worst critics admit that he has left a deep void which will be impossible to fill and Parsekar does not command even an ounce of authority that Mr Parrikar did. A quiet beginning with focus on the bread and butter issues was the suggested path. But by indicating the change of guard is complete and much more than the change of Chief Ministers, whose surnames have only two uncommon alphabets, he is discounting Parrikar from the BJP ecosystem in Goa. That will not be acceptable to any.
But his remarks are far from innocent. There is a distinct nudge from the party – which for all practical purposes is the RSS – to give the organization a greater identity than its former Chief Minister. The Goa post Parrikar template will have the stamp of the organization, with Parsekar as its torch bearer. The nature of his remarks are a clear sign that he will be allowed to be his own man, but with the permission of the organization.
The other slightly alarming signal that emanated from his conversation with HCN as well as with other reporters was that he would allow departments to function almost like autonomous power structures. There are two ways of looking at this. The positive thought would be that ministers would have the freedom to function, but the more honest way of looking at this is that he will give all a free run to do what they want – a la the Kamat government – on the condition that key deliverables which go beyond the normal scope of work of a minister are met, to keep the party and the organisation fluid and resourceful. It’s clear what that means.
We live in interesting times. And in real times. Laxmikant Parsekar has proven very quickly why he has been placed on Manohar Parrikar’s chair, as the Defence Minister arrives today for what will be a grand homecoming, he will understand that Goa is no longer his citadel.
The party and the organization which has foisted its puppet as Chief Minister will one day realise the folly of the path it has chosen, but it may be too late, when that happens.
