When the din over government formation ends and the new government – less likely to be one of majority and almost certainly a one of uneasy coalition – starts functioning, governance will be the toughest challenge for the new ruling incumbents of any formation.
If you break down all possible scenarios, no government will be able to settle in and deliver governance in a fractured environment. Look at the case of the BJP. The power that it wields in Delhi may give it hope of managing to form a government from any situation in Goa. But will that kind of a government really be able to deliver the manifesto with which it went to the people with. The biggest challenge of sharing power is to be able to distribute the benefits of governance the rank and file of the party. The more fractured the mandate, the more fractured will the largesse of the government in terms of jobs and other benefits like contracts etc, which it will have to share with its coalition partners.
One of the major areas of concern will be jobs. The tussle over departments among coalition partners will be directly linked to two things – jobs and major infrastructure projects. All parties have learnt during this election that when it comes down to the last four weeks of campaigning, especially in areas away from the main towns, it all boils down to jobs promised, jobs given or not given. The BJP, which thought that it would get an easy ride to power on the basis of welfare schemes, understood very quickly that the Ladli Laxmi, Griha Aadhar and Dayanand Social Security schemes were up against employment generation in the government. And if this happened to a government with a full majority, one can imagine the intense tussle that will emanate in a coalition government to distribute jobs. In this scenario ministers and MLAs of all coalition parties will want a slice of the pie specially in seats which will be represented by coalition MLAs who do not belong to the party the Chief Minister belongs to.
Looking beyond jobs, to develop the culture of empowerment where wealth creation is facilitated rather than doling out jobs, a stable run of governance is important.
The other area of immediate concern is investment. This works both ways. If the government takes the rogue route and uses the Investment Promotion Board to clear projects in an adhoc manner, ministers from the parties in the coalition can raise this in the cabinet. But there is a downside to all coalition governments in terms of investments. There is a general feeling that if a rag tag multi-party government is sworn in, many of the proposed investments may be kept on hold till the situation stabilises. Most of the 126 odd companies whose proposals were cleared by the Investment Promotion Board, had made their decisions a year or two ago. It will now be the turn of new proposals. An unstable government will not attract investment. And this will also affect the goal to create 50,000-odd jobs.
With the MGP and the GSM more likely to be in the government mix than any other party, the Medium of Instruction and the official language issue is going to raise it head. And neither the BJP nor the Congress are ready to ride this runaway rain of uncertainty. The BJP preferred not to board it and the Congress too wouldn’t want other aspects of governance get stalled over this issue. But it is quite clear that letting the issue lie low, isn’t a luxurious option available to the new government.
The pitfalls of coalition will emerge as the government starts functioning, and that is the price Goa will have to pay if it decides against a decisive verdict.
