As the Goan voter stands on the edge of the precipice, overlooking the erosion of sanctity, he has a lot of explaining to do, after things settle down and he begins to comprehend the hard political facts that stare at him. And the biggest of them all, is that he the voter has allowed him to be taken for granted. And this is not the failure of democracy and politics alone, it is our failure.
It is the failure of all those who live, love and vote on this land if MLAs they elect resign within hours, days or even months after getting elected, and seek a by election on the ticket of their political enemies, assuming that their voters will vote them back. The impunity with which Vishwajit Rane resigned less than two hours after he took oath as a Congress MLA, and with speculations abut an encore in St Cruz and some other constituencies of Tiswadi, is evidence of personality raj dominating Goa’s politics. If Vishwajit Rane, scion of Goa’s longest serving Congress family, is all but set to contest the Valpoi by-election on a BJP ticket, caused by his own resignation, is Vishwajit the culprit? He is merely a political opportunist, committing a “crime” which is not yet punishable under IPC.
But what does this say about the Valpoi voters. Haven’t they shown up to be willing labourers constructing Junior Rane’s political dream, and not Goans voting for the future of Goa. If Vishwajit Rane could quit and be confident that he could be re-elected, as he told a close aide recently, “on a football, a lotus or just about any symbol, the shame is on the people of Goa. From masters of the political ecosystem, many Goans have become servants of the local power satrap. And it is these satraps who can act with impunity and say, that their rule wil remain unquestioned and challenged.
The post poll rumblings about MLAs resigning for the sake of winning again on the BJP ticket, need not be checked for authenticity. Power is a gravitational pull but we are missing an important aspect here.
When the MLA decided to go back to the people, he may have been a trifle embarrassed but absolutely sure about this political future. This confidence comes from the fact that Vishwajit Rane’s decision to exit the congress came from the knowledge that the people of Valpoi will bat for him under the banner of any party.
Meanwhile, a plethora of MLAs including Monserrate’s handpicked MLAs in the Assembly are making it evident that all decisions have been left to Monserrate. Are the people of Goa, at the very least, aware that in many places, they are still numbers and vote banks. And that’s it. Even after all these years, if we continue to remain as puppets on a string, pulled by one political head honcho, Goa’s politics will slide further and further into the morass.
And this is getting worse. If, and yet this is just an If – more Congress MLAs decide to resign, and gravitate to the BJP to get elected on BJP tickets, then Goan voters would have reduced the polity of elections into personality endorsements.
