With the Election Commission looking at the fag-end of January 2017 as a possible period to hold the elections to the Goa Legislative Assembly, political parties in the State have already begun a soft campaign and are jostling for space to reach out to the electorate. It’s early days, but some political parties have already ensured alliances with only the seat sharing agreements remaining to be decided. The stage is being set for a myriad of issues to be brought up during the campaign that include the language politics and the medium of instruction, but conveniently forgetting one other pressing issue that affects more people in Goa, which is corruption.
In the din that will precede the 2017 Assembly elections, as issues pile up and are discussed, promises are made and votes are sought, what will possibly remain untouched is corruption and how it affects the Goan. BJP’s promise during the 2012 poll campaign of ‘zero tolerance to corruption’ was quickly forgotten once the party came to power. It painted the Congress black on various scams but none of the allegations made against the previous government have stuck, or perhaps the BJP didn’t make serious attempts to make them stick. Where does that leave the fight against corruption in Goa? The fact that corruption exists cannot be hidden away. There are a number of cases filed with the Anti Corruption Branch of the Department of Vigilance and others that are before the Lokayukta. People across the State will speak of corruption, but political parties will skirt the issue, making a few references to the issue but not taking it up concertedly.
Political parties in Goa will have a new challenge this coming election as they will have to ensure that the candidates they field are clean and have no charges of corruption levelled against them. The law may require a conviction to restrict a person from contesting an election, but public perception of corruption among politicians is going to play a major role in 2017, simply because the electorate will have a choice in 2017 that it didn’t have earlier. As Goa gallops towards another election, which is less than four months away, voters queuing up outside the poll booths will also have the option of pressing the button against the slip that reads ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA). This is going to be the first Assembly election in Goa where the electorate will have this choice. Political parties should bear this in mind as they select their candidates as there will be voters who may prefer rejecting the candidates and voting for NOTA.
NOTA does not give voters the right to reject an election result, it is merely a right to register their negative opinion on the choice of candidates. The votes are counted but have no bearing on the outcome of the election as even if the NOTA votes are more than that of any other candidate, the candidate getting the most votes will be declared elected. NOTA only gives people – the electorate – the opportunity to tell the political parties that they are not satisfied with the choice of candidates. So while it won’t change the election, can NOTA ensure that political parties in 2017 give the people of Goa clean candidates?
If the parties cannot ensure it, then it will be for the electorate to tell the political parties that the fight against corruption needs to be on top of the agenda. No Goa election has been fought solely on the issue of corruption and the 2017 polls will not change that piece of history, but the voters can make the parties change the way they look at their candidates.
