TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Politically the year 2013 was more smoke than fire. And except for the BJP MLA Vishnu Wagh and his open dissent, his assault and deadline to his own party, most of the political battles have been fought underground or in courts. Surprisingly, even after drubbing it received in 2012 assembly elections, the Congress is literally still refusing to accept it – besides paying lip service – or read the writing on the wall just as it had before the elections. Sections within the party along with independents even made attempts to try and capitalize on the inner contradictions within the BJP to topple the government even as it, as an opposition was virtually non-existent.
According to some insiders there were at least 7-8 attempts to create fissures and dissensions within the ruling BJP – invoking a sense of déjà vu among political watchers in the State. Once upon a time it was the Congress that was its own greatest enemy and today it is the BJP that is its own greatest enemy. However, the efforts did not bear fruit as the Congress high command refused to play ball.
Other political issues that hit the BJP were the alleged Portuguese citizenship cloud on two of its MLAs – Glenn Ticlo and Caetano D’Silva.
According to documents produced and media reports Ticlo had taken back his registration after he was elected as an MLA – which if found correct and proven would disqualify him – while Caetano or Caitu as he is known, was found to have been registered according to a Union Ministry communiqué after queries were sent regarding the status of his citizenship.
These have been hotly contested by the concerned persons and the chief minister has come out very strongly in Caitu’s defence, criticizing all and sundry.
In the aftermath of this, the Alemao family who is fighting this citizenship battle with Caitu was themselves caught in the net after there were documents produced and even a complaint made that Churchill’s wife and kids (not Valanka or Churchill himself) have been registered in Portugal.
However, after the washout in 2012, the Alemao family in 2013 is slowly clawing back, with first Valanka managing to win the Youth Congress presidentship in the State and then winning a moral battle in the fight for the Benaulim seat.
On the Benaulim seat, the chief minister’s ‘Mission Salcete’ is on with Parrikar getting close to Caitu to the chagrin of the GVP supremo Mickky Pacheco.
However, most of this jockeying was underground or in the courts and after all the pre-election fireworks in 2012, this year Salcete was relatively calm – at least on the surface.
On the other side of the coastal belt – former comrades – Calangute panchayat strongman Joseph Sequeira and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo fell out with their feud spilling out on open platforms and even reaching the chief minister.
Sources say that Sequeira is trying to build bridges with tourism minister and in the process bypassing the local MLA and is not losing any opportunity to take potshots at him. And this has not gone down well with the MLA. This is turning into a battle of attrition with the eye on the MLA seat for the next assembly elections within 3 odd years as well as a share in the tourism and development pie in Calangute.
On a lighter side during a recent assembly session, young guns – BJP as well as independents came for the session on motorbikes – some on Harleys, some on bullets causing a sensation as well uproar, when some pointed out that, to go to the assembly you had to wear a helmet. However, that proved a talking point of that session.
The Congress on the whole basically went to sleep with the party only appointing a president of its State unit at the fag end of the year and after the drubbing it took in the 2012 assembly elections.
Basically, it has not functioned as an opposition and besides lone voices like Curtorim MLA Reginald Lourenco there has been virtually no opposition to the government from the principal opposition party.
In fact it was independent MLA Vijai Sardessai and the BJP youth leaders that have proved to be the main thorns for the government. It also saw a mini revolt against the leader of opposition Pratapsing Rane who was accused of colluding with the ruling on various issues including curtailing a number of questions during the latest session.
During and even outside the assembly, it was young BJP MLAs that took on the chief minister, his cabinet and the administration for alleged sins of omission and commission. MLAs from the mining belt also were quite a disgruntled lot as there was nothing happening on the mining front.
Party stalwarts – probably all afraid that their past sins would come to haunt them – have been ominously quiet and given that the constituencies and the committees are controlled by the MLAs there has been literally no opposition from the Congress to the government.
