Contrary to the popular belief that all comes together in the final 30 to 35 day home stretch, all that happens is the firming of the decision on who to vote for. Always remember, when anti-incumbency sets in, the ruling party loses first. Who wins is decided later, unless the opposition commits absolute hara-kiri.
As BJP is poised to set its house in order and is making extremely brave remarks about winning 26 seats, there are some MLAs who understand that an election for a ruling party MLA, is not a party game. It is a very lonely game. In the coming days, every voter will be doing their own cost benefit analysis in each MLA’s constituency. Decisions will be taken on “work done, NOC’s given, certificates issued, schemes disbursed. The larger battles that Goa fights for become sideshows in the larger local picture, where the fulfillment of local desires, often personal, are the barometer of voting. In this scenario the minority MLAs of the BJP are in a state of personal unease. The pressure to meet local expectations has been combined with several decisions which are business centric and not people centric.
It is clear that when there is a feeling of all round disappointment, bordering on disgust at how the government is bending over backwards to justify decisions like de-classifying the coconut, the minority MLAs are particularly vulnerable. While the coconut will be the BJP’s waterloo, Catholic MLAs of the BJP are being asked what have they done to ensure that a just Regional Plan is introduced before their term ends, grants given to all English schools in the primary section after a bill is duly passed and perhaps most importantly, jobs are created and given for the jobless.
Across the minority constituencies it is evident that there are not so subtle attempts both by BJP as well as independent minority MLAs, for people to judge them as MLAs without looking through` the prism of their party. Calangute MLA Michael Lobo has expressed this unease to none other than Manohar Parrikar. His pet peeve though is Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar from his neighbouring constituency, who Lobo squarely holds responsible for the absolute failure in cleaning the beaches of the northern coast. Lobo also realises that unless the problems of local tourist taxi drivers who are fighting against the private rent a car operators or the shack operators are sorted, he will be held accountable.
In the South tougher questions are being asked of BJP-backed MLAs. Caitu Silva was forced to state publicly this week “I’m with the government only for development”. In Velim, Benjamin Silva, under pressure from those accused in the Velim Church attack, was forced to say “I’m not a BJP MLA. I’m an independent MLA”.
The only exception is Avertano Furtado who needs to wear the BJP tag firmly around him. At the same time he has a big muslim chunk in his constituency in the Davorlim area and he has to keep the BJP minority cell president Sheikh Jina, who hails from there, on his side.
Thus, in the coming few months, it is the minority MLAs, either of the BJP or backed by them, who will have their task cut out. They do not wish to be on the losing side even though there is no winning side.
