The script of the section of the Goa Congress, in attempting a Great Grand Alliance of “secular” non-BJP forces is also headed in the same direction. And like the movie, which is all about ‘masti’ (fun) the grand alliance too looks to be a lot of fun and games and loads of political rhetoric. But it’s nowhere near grand.
A rare attempt by the GPCC and the CLP to meet and discuss something is an achievement by itself. To give credit where it is due, the party’s legislative and organization wing met, where representatives of all blocks were present.
But in the same breath we need to add that most of the MLAs stayed away. The main guests at this meeting were people from 40 blocks. Their almost unanimous rejection of the “Grand Alliance”, which is not surprising, is significant for the following reasons. This “confidence” of going it alone could be genuine or it could be to ensure more tickets for the boys. Both information and conjecture tell us that more tickets for Congress candidates is the sole reason for opposing the grand alliance, which effectively means, with the Goa Forward.
On the issue of the grand alliance which isn’t quite happening yet, there is a Brexit-like situation emerging. There is a clear divide between pro-grand alliance and anti-grand alliance forces with the latter far outweighing the former in the party. But in the CLP, the roles are reversed. The pro-MLAs are Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco, Digambar Kamat, Jennifer Monseratte (for obvious reasons with hubby Babush a possible alliance partner in politics as in life) and Vishwajit Rane, with the quiet blessings of Senior Rane. This effectively means that five of the seven Congress MLAs (with Mauvin Godinho effectively a non- Congressman) are in favour of the alliance since their own tickets are virtually confirmed.
Hence it is explicit that the decision on whether the unification of opposition forces will happen or not will have nothing really to do with what is needed for Goa but a calculated exercise in seat mathematics. In fact that is what election 2017, for the opposition is going down to and this will be music to BJP’s ears. All it then needs to do is encourage the opposition fragments to float and split, while it focuses on its bigger battle with the Aam Admi Party.
Truth be told balkanization of opposition forces and parties has the potential to neutralize the anti-incumbency wave and this is all that the BJP is playing for. It is clear now that all that the GPCC president is looking for is to deliver more seats than what the Congress delivered the last time and claim his prize even if it means warming the opposition benches. The GPCC could suffer another jolt if at some point of time Junior Rane wants to break away from his party and chalk out his own future with his own front, Sattari Yuva Morcha.
The party is yet steeped with differences over virtually every issue. Thus its claim of being the big banyan tree under which all the entire opposition can take shelter is a trifle misplaced. It is only a very old palm tree, under which all are subjected to the vagaries of nature, and there’s no shelter.
