This is getting to be a battle of the spoilers, and not the spoils. The coming elections will be made or broken according to the role played by the new spoilers who are multiplying like a mid-summer rash.
The tough problem is, that it is one party which will suffer from this proliferation of spoilers- the Congress. The grand anti Congress amalgamation has many avatars. Mickky Pacheco’s Goa Vikas Party, Dotor Willy’s Trinamol Congress Party, the ruling party in Bengal which has suddenly found a toe hold in Goa. Didi Mamata may not really resurrect Dotor Willy out of political wilderness but the wily kolo of Saligao, badly needed a party to get himself back from. Suddenly son-in-law Tulio will have a platform.
While the TCP may do limited damage in Saligao, it is Mickky’s Goa Vikas Party which will cause more dents than what is expected. The Congress will ignore this at its own peril. Apart from Nuvem where Mickky will take on Alexio Sequeira, the GVP is expected to act as a spoiler in Curtorim where Dominic Gaunkar will be fielded. In Cortalim, Nelly Rodrigues, will cut into Mauvin Godinho’s candidates votes.
Already the battle of issue is turning into a battle of mathematics. Where is the anti-mining wave? The Regional Plan and its faults will be talked about but will it really be the game changer? We continue to hope but perhaps in vain-sadly. The math is important. If Mickky Pacheco in the south and the MGP in the North, which will have a tacit understanding with the BJP, manage to cut into Congress votes, this will led to lead reductions. It needs very little for a lead reduction to be converted into a major upset. For the Congress, it will be a blink and miss situation in seats where the spoilers will do what they do best. Spoil.
Another big problem facing the Congress, is sabotage from within. Vijay Sardesai is the front runner in Fatorda, but Churchill has Arthur D’Silva as his shadow boxer. Meanwhile one Mohammad Iqbal will soon be in the fray reportedly backed by someone in the highest echelons of the Congress to cut his votes. Quite clearly, the Congress needs the mythological somras, the divine medicine, used by the Suryavanshi kings of the Sapt Sindhus to stop internal bleeding. The problem is that the Suryavanshis knew the science of picking the right barks and trees to make the somras spirit. The Congress doesn’t, and hence needs divine intervention.
Sticking to mythology, there is an obvious beneficiary to the Congress’ disarray. The Chandravanshi kings of the upper Ganges plains, equally powerful, were the biggest challengers to the Suryavanshis. The BJP takes that space in Goa. This will be a battle of intrigue, deceit, and the lowest common denominator of politics-personal attacks. Bye bye issues, hello slander.
At the end of it all, sadly, the winning formation will depend on how successful the spoilers are. The UGDP, is on resurrection mode but not to save Goa, but to avenge the insult to Radharao Gracias, supposedly by Mickky Pacheco. Radha, the chanakya who once broke bread with Churchill and raised a toast to Mickky, all in the same evening will add a twist to the tale. He aims to be the spoiler of spoilers. He is on a candidate hunting spree to cut Mickky to size. But who benefits? The Congress.
Yeh duniya gol hain. Welcome to the jungle.
