SURAJ NANREKAR
PANJIM: With Vijai Sardesai and Rohan Khaunte, crossing over to support the BJP-led coalition govt, the Opposition seems to have lost steam.
The first two weeks of the 15-day Monsoon session of Goa Legislative Assembly has gone on to prove that the Congress, barring Reginaldo Lourenco, does not have leaders who can put the ruling party on the mat.
Surely, Rohan who is now the Revenue and IT Minister and Vijai the Minister for TCP and Agriculture, despite being Independents in the last Assembly, played role of the main Opposition.
The Congress, which had just nine members in the last Assembly (but was reduced to 8 after Babush quit), looked more venomous with the support of the duo even as the party has 16 MLAs this term.
The Congress did start the session with a bang calling for the adjournment and stalling the proceeding on the opening day over the controversial circular which barred government servants from visiting offices of public representatives.
Not only did they create ruckus but were also successful in getting the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to amend the statement. That was it. After the first day, it has been a dull affair thereafter.
The Opposition, led by Babu Kavalekar, left the government off-the hook the next day on the Investment Promotion Board issue.
The Congress wanted a House Committee to be appointed and tried to stall proceedings but only if they were united…
While some staged a walkout, some stayed put, hence the issue – if handled properly, they could pose problems for the government, but Lady Luck remained with the ruling coalition as there wasn’t any Opposition leader who could take it up further.
The Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar during Lunch Hour on that day told reporters, “they (Congress) have no issues. And even if they have anything, they do not know the subject well.”
Apart from Reginald and Opposition leader Babu Kavalekar, other leaders don’t seem to do their homework before coming to Assembly like Vijai and Rohan.
One thing was sure that when they (the two) asked questions, they were sure that they knew the topic well enough to counter the ruling’s contention.
Also, being in the Opposition, the two used the Right to Information Act suitably to get the documents well in advance, which the present Congress legislators have failed to do.
Pratapsing Rane, Luizinho Faleiro, Ravi Naik, Subash Shirodkar, Filipe Neri have failed to use their experience to corner the government on various issues like casinos, desecration, robberies, regional plan etc – allowing Parrikar to get away cheaply.
Also, many Congress leaders have returned to the Assembly after a gap of more than two terms and hence have lost touch and Parrikar, on the other hand, has learnt new techniques to counter the Opposition.
“The quality of questions tabled in the House is definitely poor,” said Dy Speaker Michael Lobo on the performance of the Opposition.
Others ruling MLAs feel the Congress is collapsing like a pack of cards and there is no unity.
“Even for presidential election, only 11 out of 16 voted for the Congress candidate, this goes on to prove what they are going through,” said the legislator, who did not want to be named adding “that they are totally jolted after Babush joined Goa Forward”.
Surely, if they need to play role of a effective Opposition, the Congress surely needs to pull up their socks and play a more active role and more importantly, keep their flock together.
