THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
As the countdown begins for a game-changing election for the people of Goa, because elections should be mainly about them and not the fortunes of political parties, it is time for deep introspection about the change we want.
What change do we want?
Change is what people want. Change is what Goa wants. And yet we must be careful. Do we want change just for the sake of change? Can change be just about a different set of people or a different party coming to power? Does change simply mean replacing one set of “leaders” and putting another set of leaders when deep within, you know both sets are not leaders but dealers?
Goa has to be saved from corruption, destruction, loss of identity and the erosion of space for a common Goan, but let this change be good, be credible, be transparent, and above all be for the people.
Do Goans want those who have betrayed their choice and trust? Do Goans want those who have betrayed the mandate? Do Goans want those who have looted the state’s minerals and resources and are facing trials in different scams? Do Goans want those who have misused their powers to play with our land, change land-use patterns to benefit rich outsider lobbies, especially in the coastal belt? For the sake of change, Goans surely do not want the very forces they are working against, to return wearing different political jerseys and uniforms and say they are faces of change.
Don’t they know that Goa is a small state where everyone is known, everyone’s past and present is an open book, irrespective of which avatar they take, their essence cannot be hidden, or forgotten, or forgiven. A Goan who wants this election to be about Goa and not about politicians or parties who are hunting for power will never trust or vote for those who have let the voter down in some form or the other. And this is across parties or coalitions.
The disgust with defectors is palpable and clear. Let no party or coalition underestimate that
The 10 MLAs who quit the Congress and sold their souls to the BJP, and others before them who kicked their mandate, do not deserve to even contest, let alone win. And any party or coalition that does business with these defectors should be rejected outright by the people of Goa.
We are aware that they are still doing backroom deals with different parties and trying to claw back into the electoral fray, some through the independent route. But as the old song of the band The Police, goes “Every breath you take, And every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take”… the people of Goa are watching you.
With what face can defectors go back to the people?
Do they think it is so easy to break such a big trust, a bond, and get away with it as if nothing happened? There must be a price and the price they must pay is political wilderness. These people have broken a solemn contract with the people. With what face do they expect to go back to them after breaking something so precious- trust
Beware of ‘settings’ where a deal is struck for one party to field a weak candidate
In the ruling camp or the fractured opposition camp, there are behind the scenes talks going on for all kinds of “settings” to take place. Typically, the party with more funds will ask another to field a weak candidate to enable them to win. It could work in other ways too. One party funds a strong rival party or independent candidate with the same voter base as another rival, to split the rival votes. The point is that if these parties who are doing these deals become a part of an opposition coalition against the ruling party, can you call that clean or a true representative of genuine change? certainly not.
In this case, there will be no real change, but the circulation of the same political dirt. Goa is fed up. It doesn’t want the same political muck to go around like a merry-go-round.
There is a genuine case for clean, educated, progressive, and absolutely honest candidates
One might think this is an easy task, but this is the most difficult. Find a politician who does not have criminal cases or a corruption case or never defected and betrayed mandates or misused his or her office to do deals to favour forces that think of only their own wealth at the cost of Goa.
In short, find those who want to win, not at the cost of Goa, but for Goa
If deals and settings work, there can be any combination that can bring about change. But will this be a clean change or an ugly change which will basically be the same system in a new uniform? Do we need just a change of uniforms or a clean good honest system?
The important point here is that we are running out of time. The political scene is overwhelmed with parties, candidates, and strategies. As each day goes, parties and coalitions are and will get more and more desperate to win at any cost. Even at your cost. Even at Goa’s cost.
The battle is between those desperate to win at any cost and those desperate for Goa to win at any cost. And all right-thinking people should belong to the second team which wants Goa to win at any cost. And to do that all forces, irrespective of parties, who want to win by hook or crook, to loot and make money or wield power for themselves should be rejected by the people’s force.
And those who want Goa to win must start by backing good honest candidates who will bring their upbringing, their education their values to the table and take them to the Assembly. No one can decide or shape who will rule Goa in the next term. But what can be controlled is the kind of people we chose to enter the Assembly. That is in your hands. And it is our choice that will shape our futures. The vote is the ultimate power we give to a politician. If used wisely, our Goa will benefit. If misused, Goa will be destroyed. Therefore, it is now, more than ever before that the power of the people’s vote should not be given to those who will destroy but to those who will build Goa for the future of your children.
