Next year is the 60th anniversary and this stage will be crucial which is why remembering this phase is necessary. This election historically granted Goa its first democratic government ever. It should be pondered upon what this election gave to people and why they should be grateful for it. Since there were no voting rights during Portuguese rule, electing the people’s government by the people was entirely out of the question. Therefore, it was the very first time in the history of Goa that locals were voting to elect a government on their own. Not only were the polls new for the people but it also marked the assignment of responsibility. And the leader that came out shining out of this grind was Dayanand alias Bhausaheb Bandodkar.
Although people today may not feel much about it due to regency bias, it was no less than a miracle by people who voted back then. There were three main parties in the fray; Bhausaheb’s Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Jack Sequeira’s United Goans and Congress party led by Purushottam Kakodkar. Congress’ victory was considered certain since the party was ruling at the Center under the leadership of Pt Nehru. The party had also birthed innumerable freedom fighters which was considered as another key factor to their victory. However, none of that helped Congress as MGP in partnership with Praja Socialist Party claimed most of the seats.
Leaders like Barrister Nath Pai had come to campaign for Bhausaheb as his PSP party had formed an alliance with MGP. In contrast, Congress had deployed extremely popular veteran leaders such as Lal Bahadur Shastri, Yashwantrao Chavan, Morarji Desai, Jagjivan Ram, S K Patil to campaign for the party. Congress’ was campaigning at its fullest, UGP was trying their best but it looked like the real contest was between MGP and Congress.
Tables were turned during the poll results and they were turned in a complete 360 angle as Congress failed to secure even one seat in Goa (they did win one seat in Daman). MGP-PSP’s partnership claimed 16 seats while UGP secured 12. The people’s mandate had preferred the leadership of Bhausaheb. Interestingly, Bhausaheb did not contest the elections himself and yet MGP was able to defeat the big names. The MGP’s share of votes stood at 40.13%. Bhausaheb had not contested the general elections as he did not wish to become the chief minister however the situation was such that he had to assume the CM’s post. When he took the oath on December 20, 1963 he was not a member of the Assembly. He later contested the by-polls from Marcaim constituency to reach the Assembly. The results had shocked everyone including the then prime minister Pt Nehru.
The mandate gave Bandodkar’s leadership a new height and this formed the basis of mutual respect between Nehru and Bandodkar. Bandodkar’s governance mainly focused on completing Five Year Plans, to elevate the social and economic status of the people and to create self-confidence among the locals. He visited most remote places to truly understand the demographics of the region and kept his doors open to the poorest of poor. His ground work to develop the school level education still stays unparalleled. Within the first six months he built buildings of 260 primary schools. Before the Liberation there were 17,000 students studying in 176 schools.
After Bhausaheb claimed power, the number rose to 63,842 students studying in 716 schools within a year. The work of the first bridge on the Mandovi River began within the first six months while the bridge on Zuari was given approval by the Central government courtesy to the State government led by MGP. Needless to say, the first Mandovi bridge and Zuari bridge belong to the portfolio of Bhausaheb. His foresight set Goa’s future path. This is what the first general elections gave to Goa and it would not be unfair to celebrate this day as a Democratic Rights Day.
