The Goa Cong is playing dirty with its own people
The Congress in India has actually ruled for far more disproportionate periods than they actually deserve because of one interesting trait of the Indian voter. The trait of reflex voting. The vast swathe of UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh saw the dalits, muslims and a section of the hindus vote blindly till the mid nineties. The post Ayodhya wave had however consolidated the hindus in the heartland leading to some losses.
Goa in the pre toppling days saw a clear run of the MGP from in 1963 -79, followed by the congress domination in 1990’s. While Parrikar came into being at the turn of the millennium, Digambar Kamat has staked claim to creating another year of Congress rule by ruling for a full five year term. But why does a cakewalk second term elude him? While the broader reasons of governance failures form a backdrop to the congress slide, the withering of the party and its core identity has resulted in the party being lost in the jungle of powerful individuals. While Herald has regularly harped on the issue, never before has this harsh reality hit the Congress as it will do now.
For the Congress to really control the politics of Goa and plan the future of the state for its people- and this goes beyond the next elections- it must get the Congress back. We repeat- the congress has to get the Congress back. To start with, it needs to believe in its people, its foot soldiers, who have served the party for years. But look what the Congress does instead? To fuel the personal ambitions of certain leaders, it initiated defections of two BJP MLA’s and offered them jobs to be distributed and party tickets. A third, Vijay Pai Khot is on its way. Vishwajit Rane was the architect of the first two. Chief Minister Digambar Kamat- no stranger to defections- has backed the Vijai Pai Khot operation
Vijay Sardesai may not be the tallest leader the party has. Nor is he without controversy. But who isn’t? But what can’t be denied is that this general secretary of the party has been working in Fatorda for the past four years and has the complete support of all frontal organisations. The Chief Minister along with all senior leaders held an impressive rally when Sardesai’s party office was opened where he extended complete support to him. Shortly after a move to draft in MK Sheikh, a baseless leader, as the congress candidate in Fatorda, was made, on the pretext of giving a ticket to Muslims. In another sideshow, the youth congress president Pratima Coutinho, who won the post because of Sardesai, was offered a ticket against her very mentor. To her credit, she refused but that doesn’t take away the fact that the congress played dirty with its own General Secretary.
No party grows by backstabbing and playing dirty with its own people. This makes people with support base revolt. Isidore Fernandes, who is expecting the congress ticket in Canacona has said that he is a loyal congressman till he gets a ticket and if he leaves 1000 workers, will leave with him. This isn’t bravado. This is for real.
If the congress doesn’t build the party like an institution and back its own people, the reflex of the voter will go against it. Beware of 2012.
11 January,2012
