Not in Goa’s interest
In his efforts to get even with his party, Santo Andre MLA Vishnu Surya Wagh seems to have tied himself in knots, going by his latest utterances. True, the flamboyant Wagh is one of the few capable MLAs within the BJP in Goa. No wonder he has been left out of the Cabinet, possibly to check him from exercising his independent mind within the political collective in power which has come to be seen increasingly as a one leader party. But that does not give Wagh the privilege to fire in the air and risk the possibility of hurting people who support him outside his party.
By Wagh’s own admission, no one from his party supported him after he was so brutally assaulted in Nanora. He even went on to say that he realized he has more friends outside the party than inside it. It is these friends outside of the BJP that Wagh must be careful not to hurt, since he would risk losing all sympathy.
If Wagh, who has been alienated from the party, pursues divisive politics of supporting Marathi as the official language of Goa, he will further alienate himself from his non BJP sympathizers and liberal Goans. Wagh should not forget the mistakes of history, lest he repeat them to his misfortune.
In the first post-Liberation government in Goa, the then Speaker PP Shirodkar, who nursed a grudge against the first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar since by his own admission he should have been anointed chief minister instead of Bandodkar, used the Marathi card to disguise his power aspirations. Unfortunately, he parted ways with MGP on the Marathi card and formed his own party, which was decimated in the 1967 elections.
Similarly, KB Naik mobilized the Bhandari assertion within the MGP and even spearheaded the schism within that party and then split from it around 1970. Though the second Bandodkar ministry was paralysed, Naik was wiped out along with Anthony D’Souza, Gopal Mayenkar and the lot in the 1972 elections. KB Naik too had used the Marathi card against Bandodkar saying that he had not been faithful to the twin causes of merger and Marathi. Naik formed the Nav-MGP which was wiped out as well.
Though some Goans do have cultural and religious ties with Marathi, at home over 90 per cent of Goans speak Konkani. The MGP pretences on Marathi were time and again exposed by the United Goans Party and needs no reiteration. Therefore instead of using issues that divide Goans on the basis of language, which is an age-old weapon, the need of the hour is to unite the people of this state.
Wagh would be better advised to pursue his Bahujan Mahamanch ‘mahamantra’ instead which could prove to be the Brahamastra against the BJP and its leadership. Goa needs a regional party like the MGP to reignite the cause of the Bahujan Samaj which unfortunately has been appropriated by two upper caste MLAs. Wagh can fill this slot, since the Bahujan Mahamanch would unite the Bahujan who have not benefited much either from the 16 years of MGP rule or thereafter, being left only with the crumbs of power.
It would be prudent for Vishnu Wagh to mobilize people if he wishes to on special status for Goa, since Parrikar has put this issue on the backburner after only lighting the spark during the Modi rally in the interests of his party. Today, more than ever, there is a dire need to protect the identity, culture and ethos of Goa. Combined with the Bahujan Mahamanch, this would be the twin strategy to go forward.
It is best that Wagh leave behind the contentious issue of pursuing equal status for Marathi as Goa’s official language, and focus rather on matters that unite the people of this state which would win him sympathy from people outside the BJP. That could pose a serious challenge to the incumbent leadership.
It is best that Wagh leave behind the contentious issue of pursuing equal status for Marathi as Goa’s official language, and focus rather on matters that unite the people of this state which would win him sympathy from people outside the BJP
