In politics there is a certain amount of humbleness required that will help the politician to engage with the voters. The voter needs to be constantly pampered and made to feel important. Time and again results in Goa have shown that it is the personality of the individual rather than the policies he proposes to introduce on victory that have won elections. But results have also shown that the voters expect the politician not to take them for granted.
There is a by-election coming up soon and one of the declared contenders, Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, could well take some time to learn a lesson from history. He should know that bravado in politics hasn’t always worked well in Goa. At the moment he might have quieted down a bit, but some days ago, speaking exclusively to Herald, Monserrate said, “If I choose not to contest the by-election and the BJP fields even a chaprasi for Panjim seat the party is sure to win.”
That is a great statement to make to grab headlines, but will it win votes? If one goes back to read about Goan political campaigns, the statement is a lot reminiscent of a similar one made 40 years ago in 1974. It was another by-election and one that was very fiercely contested. Benaulim constituency fell vacant with the death of United Goans Party (UGP) MLA Vassudev Sarmalkar. The constituency was a UGP stronghold, with MGP having no presence in it. Many expected that the UGP ticket would be granted to Sarmalkar’s son Jyoti, but UGP instead brought in Dr Wilfred de Souza a resident of Saligao in Bardez as its candidate. As eyebrows were raised, Dr Jack de Sequeira praising the ‘dotor’ at a campaign meeting famously said that even a UGP ‘fator’ (stone) would win in Benaulim.
But the unthinkable happened. MGP’s Francisco Menino Jesus (Luta) Ferrao, after recounts, won the election narrowly. The result was challenged and the court ordered a recount that gave the candidates an equal number of votes. The draw of lots favoured de Souza, the result was set aside and de Souza was declared as elected.
What is important here is that in a highly polarized situation of the 1970s, Benaulim constituency showed that it is not anybody’s pocket borough and so should not and could not be taken for granted.
That might have been a by-election and one constituency, but that result was the beginning of the downslide of the UGP. The party, which was the main opposition party in the Union Territory of Goa since Liberation and had come close to forming a government on previous occasions, never recovered from that defeat and a few years later it ceased to exist.
Monserrate’s ‘chaprasi’ statement has a similar quality. It is one thing to claim victory in an election and brag a little or even a lot, but quite another to make preposterous statements such as the one that was made. Monserrate’s statement is an affront to the voters of Panjim as it signifies that they have been totally led by the BJP and cannot think for themselves. He positions himself as the only individual who can break that spell cast that has been cast by the BJP in Panjim constituency.
This is Monserrate’s first attempt to enter the Legislative Assembly from Panjim constituency. He has earlier won elections from Taleigao and St Cruz, and is the current Congress MLA of the latter constituency. He plans to resign from there and contest from Panjim as an Independent candidate. He hopes to make his debut in Panjim going solely by the support his panel has gained in local municipal elections. That may not be a fair indication of support as the Congress, which will field its candidate in the by-election, had not supported any panel in the municipal elections.
There is another reason why Monserrate must reflect a little bit more before jumping into the fray. He has shifted constituencies and parties in the past, so Panjim voters can have little guarantee that he will stand by them. Surely, when he is testing the waters from a new constituency he should be more circumspect in what he says.
