So another chapter in the tiatr of the absurd is over and the man in the private ward block of Medical Superintendant’s Office at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi technically made a fool of Goa’s democracy. Oh! The dramatic build-up of tense BJP core committee members, the weary-looking coalition partners, the television bytes and the newspaper quotes of how the coalition is stable and the ailing Chief Minister is looking to divest portfolios. Did someone say portfolios? Doesn’t that sound similar to rumours and announcements of divesting his chair which Parrikar won’t let go off?
Dear Goenkar, we have been fooled yet again and well this State has to wait till December 12 to decide its fate. And why? Because December 11 will let BJP know whether Goa deserves to go into Parliamentary Elections 2019 as a trophy wife to BJP at the Centre or should be dissolved immediately to seek a fresh mandate. Clearly, BJP’s game of usurping power in March 2017 is coming apart and led by its official Adhesive-in-Chief currently recuperating in the national capital is desperately holding on to power. Let us also not fool ourselves believing that the CM will give away the crucial Home, Finance, GAD and Mining Departments to any of his alliance partners. Howsoever, the coalition partners and the Congress imports into BJP may posturise their importance announcing policies, projects and schemes, the fact remains that the vazir in AIIMS calls the shots and his cabinet colleagues behave like a bunch of kindergarten kids.
Friday’s drama in New Delhi could have been avoided and Goa would have come out stronger if the alliance partners had exerted themselves. It’s ironical that all the parties running this government would once upon a time mock Congress for its High Command. Well, now the trio and all independents are acting as per wishes of the BJP High Command. The whole bogey of regional politics and the regional party has been smashed to smithereens as the coalition partners hold on desperately to the larger national party to (a) remain relevant in politics and (b) remain in power. Well dear Goenkar, do you see why we cannot trust a single politician in Goa and the political narrative has to be in hands that are willing to sacrifice?
What eight months of being governed by remote control should teach our Ministers and MLAs, especially of the ruling coalition partner, is that your senior partner has neither respect nor a sense of grace. Goa is a small State, don’t people know how the CM and his power grabbing and hoarding are using every desperate measure to humiliate their (coalition partners’) commitment to the coalition. It’s not that portfolios like Home and Finance cannot be handled by GFP and MGP. In fact, they are more rooted in Goa’s milieu than a now disbanded RSS reliant BJP. But then BJP holds on desperately since it knows it needs all administrative machinery to ensure two Lok Sabha seats and a possible majority in the next Assembly polls.
Friday’s U-turn was just another of Parrikar’s many legendary ones and so many U-turns only make a 0 (zero). For the government’s coalition partner this isn’t just another bitter lesson. It’s a blunt message – “You don’t matter only the Chair does”. Dear Coalition Partners, if any Central party in Goa has to survive with your support it’s you who call the shots, not them. The flop show in New Delhi after all that dramatic build-up has hurt your political stock and stature. From CACs to VideoCon to now hospital bed governance, this government has witnessed some of the most bizarre theatrics. Time some people’s representatives went home, time some political parties were confined to the coolers, time we brought respect and seriousness to democracy, polity and governance in Goa.
