As everybody focuses on the decision to be taken by the BJP Central leadership on Goa, Congress is resolutely knocking the doors of the Raj Bhawan seeking a chance to prove its majority in the House. It is hoping that it can right a perceived wrong that was done to it in March 2017, when despite being the single largest party it was not invited to form the government. It continues to claim it is the single largest in the Assembly, which is true but whether in the Assembly or outside it, Congress has hardly acted as if it had the strength that it claims. With numbers on its side, the party should have been able to put up a strong opposition in the House, but has failed in this. Political strength, therefore, does not come merely through numbers but also through acting as team, which Congress has failed in.
If today the party is demanding a chance to form the government, it was until recently not even considering it. Just over two weeks ago, on August 31, its Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco had walked out of a legislative party meeting in protest, as he felt that the party was not serious about addressing the people’s issues. “Today there is no administration people are suffering and what are we doing as an opposition?” he had asked, demanding that the party take to the streets. A day earlier the Pradesh Congress Committee had threatened to protest in public if Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s medical papers were not made public. It didn’t of course, but over the past few days the party has made various demands, which have not been matched by its actions.
If given an opportunity, will Congress be able to pull it off? Can the party even stand united and show it? The MLAs may have all gone together to the Raj Bhawan on Monday, but are they all singing the same tune? Given that until this week the GPCC and the CLP spoke differently, unity of any sort in the party is difficult to fathom. Remember that Kavalekar when questioned if they would join the protest by the party organisation had said, “We are with GPCC if it decides to protest.” If the party organisation and the party legislators are not on the same page on a simple protest, can they be on the same wavelength when it comes to government formation and policy issues? Kavalekar was not even been able to answer confidently when asked who would be the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party, but parried the question saying it would be made known during the floor test.
In recent days, Congress has been continuously reiterating that it has the numbers to prove a majority in the House, pointing out that the effective strength of the BJP in the Assembly is down to 10 and that of the coalition to 19. With 16 MLAs Congress is still short, but the party has also claimed to have been approached by MLAs from the treasury benches who are dissatisfied with the possibility of a regional party leader heading the government. While there are no names being mentioned, the party is waiting for a decision from the Governor, who they say has promised to get back on the issues and demands raised in their memorandum in a few days time.
There appears to be quite a bit of waiting happening. As Congress waits for the Governor’s response, the parties in the ruling combine await a decision from the BJP central leadership on the State leadership. In the meantime, governance in the State continues to remain almost at a standstill, as Goa awaits a functioning government.
