FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Rebellion factor and effect on polls
You can call it as the new normal, but the rebellion factor will play a crucial role in the outcome of this election on February 14. Those candidates who have been fancied to get tickets, especially as far as support of the electorate is concerned and have been spurned will, to a great extent, determine the outcome of who will win because candidates who have performed have still their grassroots support and therefore ultimately it will be influential candidates who will be preferred by the electorate especially those who have left an imprint by performing even at a secondary level.
A few parties have fielded relatively new candidates and these candidates in particular will attract the votes of the portion of the electorate who are not happy with the performance of the incumbent candidates either because of their non performance or because of their alignment to a party that has let down the people.
A few major upsets are in the works. However, much will depend upon the inclination of the voters to show people power and choice. Winning will also be about being discrete and getting your mathematics right will be of paramount importance. 10% new candidates could make their debut to the Legislative Assembly.
Elvidio Miranda, Panjim
Vote for your own choice
Politicians or sitting candidates must by now understand that voters exercise their right to vote, which is paramount for a voter because the future of sad Goa is largely dependent on its leadership and the Goans are the stakeholders. Voters may be forced to accept freebies, laden envelops, gifts, alcohol and even in certain cases demand money or other favours from all the parties contesting the elections, but this time will wisely vote for their candidate or party of their liking who is clean and ethical.
So, parties and candidates should know, though they accept what is offered at their door steps, won't be of much use as the voters will wisely screen their best candidate to vote without being influenced. The reason being, some voters have started accepting these offers because they believe that the wholesale distribution by the corrupt politicians is a small portion of what they had pocketed over the years, which was supposed to have been spent on welfare projects, increasing quality of life of the Goans and not the other way round.
Some politicians who yet succeed elections by distributing or taking care of other favours believe that they have the right to loot funds meant for schemes and take it for granted that Goans have lost their right to question them, since they have accept the illicit booty, no, not anymore. However, in the state what Goa is and agitated Goans are tired for the last few years, it will be difficult to mesmerise them by offering freebies to persuade their votes. The reality is, Goans are proud to call themselves patriotic Goan, when someone calls them susegad or poor, they tend to bash the said person in some ways or the other.
Gaston Dias, Sarzora
Ethics thrown in the garbage
This has reference to your edit ‘Ethics versus ability to win’ (Herald January 21, 2022). I think, the editorial has rightly put it - it's all about winnability, about defeating the other at all costs. It doesn't matter which party one may belong to. He has to secure his seat - it is 'my seat, my responsibility'! And so, we find that when someone is denied a ticket, he would either defect to another party or prop himself up as an independent. Thereafter, just as in the share market where share prices rise so also does the price of the elected candidates rise, and a government is formed.
Loyalty to the party is thrown to the winds. It doesn't matter if they have betrayed the trust reposed in them by the electorate. Ethics is thrown in the garbage bin. History stands testimony to this, as we have seen in several States in the recent past. Yes, it about ethics versus ability to win. Democracy in our country seems to have hit the pits. It is perhaps only a political revolution which can lift us out of this rot. Is there some hope for our democracy? One would tend to believe, there is some hope - against all hopes?
Melville X D'Souza, Mumbai
No nepotism, no criminals, really?
The ruling party has chosen to allot tickets to two power couples after shrilly announcing from the rooftops that it does not believe in parivarvaad (dynastic politics) and weighs candidature solely on merits. It is also pertinent to note that they are earnest about a clean administration; ironically there are ten serious non bailable criminal offences registered against their electoral candidates, five of which are accounted for by the two privileged couples seeking re-election. The alleged offences relate to murder, rape, kidnapping and corruption, the sentences for which range from five years to life imprisonment.
Besides many other candidates have been booked for minor offences in the past. The saffron party seems to be a laundromat where any member with criminal antecedents joining them from rival parties becomes as pure as the driven snow and starts singing the praises of the purported Hindutva hridaysamrat who was earlier anathema to them. Hypocricy is de rigueur for politicians but the conduct of the ruling dispensation takes the cake and the whole bakery too.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Need of a transparent recruitment system
The process of finding and hiring the best-qualified candidate for any job, in a timely, fair and cost effective manner constitutes the recruitment system. Recent the LDC recruitment for GMC where 85% was to Sattari candidates and PWD department recruitment. But, unfortunately, this issue has affected the lives of countless deserving candidates and moreover, has undoubtedly affected the functioning of government departments those were recruiting the candidates by choosing the undeserving candidates. It seems that government is selling jobs for lakhs of rupees by bypassing Goa Staff Selection Commission. Such scams are deep rooted cancer in the country which direly needs a chemo therapy of transparency as soon as possible otherwise; the day is not far when our system will be nothing better than a corpse.
It is normal tendency of any human being to choose the easiest path. So, it is quite normal for a candidate with political contacts or with certain political alliances to choose to bribe the officials or politicians who are sitting ready to accept it with their mouths wide open to gulp public’s money than working hard for their recruitment. This makes the recruitments sham and leads to the appointment of undeserving candidate which would definitely hamper the growth of the particular department and in turn, the growth of country. Corrupt government is frustrating youths of Goa as deserving candidates are not getting jobs, while those who pay for jobs are made happy.
K G Vilop, Chorao
Virus spreading its tentacles
Bengaluru has earned the dubious distinction of breaching its second wave record of highest single-day tally, with 30,540 Covid-19 cases reported on Thursday. Karnataka also registered a steep spike of 47,754 new cases and 29 fatalities.
Amid the inflow of new cases, the percentage of Covid-19 hospitalisations also rose from 1.55 per cent six days ago to 1.82 per cent on Thursday evening. Though the virus is spreading its tentacles far and wide, the silver lining is that deaths are significantly less in the third wave of the pandemic.
N J Ravi Chander,
Bengaluru
