While no one should grudge a man for celebrating his sixtieth birthday, certain positions of public importance such as that of the Defence Minister of India, at the time of one of India’s main metropolises, Chennai, is going through its worst-ever natural/man-made disaster of unprecedented floods, warrants a rethink.
But that said, you do not expect Manohar Parrikar to change his mind just because one pesky newspaper “which doesn’t find anything positive to write about this government” (as Herald has been officially charged by the BJP government), says so. What this pesky newspaper thus asks is the sudden leapfrogging of Parrikar’s intervention and involvement in Goa even beyond the usual marks a desperation to steer a ship which is going astray. Therefore we ask if his birthday bash will be a pre- announcement of his homecoming to rescue his party and government. The hail the leader chants on December 13 could well sound like, God save us.
But this homecoming will not be easy for the God who knows all things. Does he also know that the DNA of governance in Goa, since he left it in December last has changed? The fundamental shift is this. There is no unified vision-irrespective of whether it is people-friendly or otherwise. Each minister and his department heads down the line, runs his own fiefdom which is a universe swayed from stated objectives, the party manifesto or assurance made in the assembly. While Manohar Parrikar, when questioned about this used to get himself out of the box by adding another deadline to the earlier one, “assuring” that commitments would be met, this government doesn’t waste time on such niceties. It is this brazenness which is baffling because the party is not winning any friends. And the very tough ask is, is it even beyond Parrikar to repair the damage.
Yet there is a counter narrative. This goes like this. WiIl the BJP just roll over and die allowing a yet to be identified, and by and large a nameless opposition will to come to the party and steal it? The BJP will still be the single largest party and form the government with some fragments of MLAs cobbled together. The third and perhaps the most alarming – let’s see how many of the Salcete brigade actually vote.
The only one in the BJP who can notice and understand that losing people’s trust can be independent of the way the next elections hold out in Parrikar himself. Governance and politics cannot be about whether they are doing enough to win the next elections. It is about whether they are governing well. In India there is a term called ram rajya or welfare state. And though the BJP owes its existence to playing politics with Lord Ram, it has not managed to clone his way of governance which takes its name from him.
On the eve of Manohar Parrikar’s birthday, this is the state of his rajya. A deep set sense of betrayal on these fronts
a) After announcing that the Regional Plan – which is linked to the future of every village in Goa – would be scrapped and new plan incorporating all major choices of the people would be introduced, it is preparing to place the same flawed plan to the people and introduce it unchanged.
b) One of the biggest objections to RP 2021 was introducing eco-tourism zones as fronts for real estate projects in eco-sensitive areas. This is now sought to be legalised through an ordinance which is going to help further this.
c) In the case of every major project where the government has shown undue interest in the profit maximization of a major private player, people’s protests have been crushed or bulldozed. A farmer from Tuem had to go to jail for his efforts if protesting against the loss of his land without compensation
d) The government is systematically going after messengers and those who use the only weapon, that a dictatorial government is afraid of- facts. Is it any wonder that inspite of Herald engaging in a fact bombardment on issues on a daily basis, the government has not accepted our open challenge to have a one on one televised discussion in front of a live audience with the Chief Minister. Is it any wonder that when Mr Parsekar completed one year as Chief Minister, the only paper he chose not to speak to was Herald. Simply because he didn’t want to handle the fact- bombardment.
Manohar Parrikar knows this. His remark “If this government is going off track. I will come and set it right”, wasn’t a casual one.
He alone knows that there is something bigger than losing elections. It is losing faith.
