The State of Goa was a matter of least concern to the BJP ‘high command’, when it came to shoring its Defence Ministry with a full-fledged minister in Manohar Parrikar. Party president Amit Shah told Parrikar clearly that Goa could be run by anyone and he could control it from Delhi. On November 30, the Prime Minister broached the subject clearly with Parrikar, communicating that it was no longer a matter of Parrikar’s choice. Even at that stage the Goa Chief Minister felt that he could push for more time. In fact he told his close friend, who is an important constitutional functionary that he hoped he would get at least a month. On November 4, he called his friend who on a brief visit to Haridwar to take a dip in the holy Ganges, to rush back to Delhi where he – Mr Parrikar – was reaching. It was in Delhi that Mr Parrikar told his friend that he could no longer hold on. His friend and his closest advisor in the government told him, “You wait and see, he won’t even give you time to pack your bags and will tell you that Goa can be run by anyone, even an administrator.” On Nov 5, party president Amit Shah gave him no choice but to leave Goa and move to Delhi. The same evening, during his meeting with PM Modi, where Mr Parrikar told the media “nothing was discussed”, the PM actually told him “jaldi nirnay le lijiye” (decide quickly). When he left 7 Race Course Road to be confronted by the waiting national media, he was too overcome with the realization that had dawned on him that he would have to get up and leave (in his words “close shop overnight”). He then told his friend on their flight back to Delhi “it happened exactly the way you said it would”
Herald: What led to these fast paced developments?
Manohar Parrikar: Look, the Prime Minister told me when I went to meet him after I met the party president “Jaldi nirnay le lijiye” (please take your decision quickly) I told him that I would by the 6th (November 6). Amit Shah had told me, followed by my meeting with PM. And then Amit Shah called me again the next day. You cannot say no to the Prime Minister of the country and your party.
Herald:You met Mr Nitin Gadkari (Union Transport minister) for breakfast in Goa last week. You held your ground and said that you have a mandate for five years.
MP: That is the point I had raised with the party also. I said I don’t mind coming but give me time. Even choosing my successor could have been done in a planned way instead of the way it’s being done now.
Herald: Why didn’t you try to get out of this?
MP: I tried telling him in two or three ways, not to do it immediately. But how can you say no to a Prime Minister directly. I was indirectly saying, give me some time. For Modiji, delivery is important and he did not want the Defence Ministry to lag behind. May be, they wanted a person in Defence who has administrative ability and some integrity. The Defence Ministry has been a black spot in Indian politics.
Herald: As we have said, this has left Goa high and dry. And while there are serious reservations about the gap between your promises and deliveries, there is also a gap between you and the next rung of leadership. The leaders thrust upon us, don’t exude confidence. You are leaving with unfinished business pending.
MP: Goa is a very small place. In a small place people put a lot of pressures on the MLAs and that tells on the performance. But some inconvenience will be there but I have completed half of my term and systems are in place, people gel with each other, and no one is irreplaceable.
Herald: But consensus on your successor eludes you. There are divisions in the party just like the Congress, and a race for power. All this has happened because you had to go.
MP: (Avoids a direct answer) Jab chaar log hote hain, tab chaar group hote hain, India mein jab char log hote hain, paanch group hote hain (When there are four people there are four groups, in India when there are four people, there are five groups). But…
Herald:I have to ask you about South Goa because their votes were the game changer for you in the Assembly elections. And Mr Parrikar, they didn’t vote for the BJP, they voted for you. South Goa feels doubly betrayed that promises made to them haven’t been fulfilled and above that you’ve left them half way.
MP: The policies will be the same. There will be no change in the policies. We have worked hard and laid down people friendly policies. Those won’t change. However my speed may be slightly more than others and I agree that a percentage of votes came because of me but I’m not going completely out of the system.
Herald: On key deliverables, you have not succeeded. The Regional Plan, the Bible of land planning, has been kept in cold storage. You have never accounted for this delay and will go down as your biggest non delivery of a promise made.
MP: This needs a big explanation and there is no time at the moment. But I will come back next week and meet you on this. I want to explain. But the delay is in the interest of Goa but I can’ tell you now. But the mining issue needed to go back on track and that is happening.
Herald: Do you admit that you failed to express or communicate to the people on this delay?
MP: I’ll explain next week.
Herald: The albatross around your next is the Mopa airport. There is clear opposition and no one trusts you when you say that both airports will function. They can’t. You have also sidestepped the issue during you elections campaigns, knowing your stand will impact votes.
MP: We had said that Mopa will be taken up once the Vidhan Sabha elections were over. There is a lot of double talk on these things. Those opposing said we want a written guarantee that Dabolim will remain. I will see that Dabolim remains. People who are opposing had no role to play in Dabolim’s development. I got the airport functional for 18 hours. I shifted the National Highway 90 meters to the right creating space for the terminal. I was the initiator for the new terminal when Shripadji was Minister for Civil Aviation. I took up the issue of night parking so that more flights could come.
If you travel between 1 and four in the afternoon, there are flights coming in, going out, trying to park and trying to land. There is chaos and there is no space for expansion. I will ask the next CM to take these people (anti-Mopa activists) to the airport and make them sit there in the afternoon to see what happens. Dabolim is already saturated. Some people were fighting for a car park. That is not a major issue. That will be taken care of by building vertical parking slots.
Herald: So what you are saying is that Dabolim is getting unviable and hence it will shut down. How can you say Dabolim will remain if it’s not feasible?
MP: All planes don’t have to land here. Smaller planes can land here bringing down costs which will passed down to passengers.
Herald: But then bidders who responded to your Request for Qualification wanted to know if the Dabolim airport would remain or not, because they want a viability guarantee.
MP: If they don’t find it viable, they will not bid. So the problem is settled. But here I want to add, when Digambar Kamat as Chief Minister acquired land for Mopa, no one had a problem, the problem is only now..
(At this point Mr Parrikar had to put an end to the interview with MLAs and visitors pouring in. Several questions and answers still remain and will be answered one day by the next Defence Minister of India, who had to leave mid way through his own political journey of this term)
