Desist contesting vs like-minded people
Political scenario for the 2022 assembly polls is getting crowded with especially parties with narrow ideological differences risking the splitting of votes in their quests to later support one another in formation of government. All right, there are no alliances, no seat sharing understanding with one another. At least let there be a common resolve not to contest in constituencies where a like-minded party stands a chance to win the elections, thus there being some sort of reinforcement of strategies for the sake of ensuring victory that otherwise might have been lost by division of votes.
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If the common motive of like-minded parties is to vote out the present dispensation, this strategy would seem to boost the final tally of like-minded opposition parties. Desisting from contesting against one another will definitely brighten the chances of being able to form a coalition government in which the main motive is to vote out the present dispensation. This strategy in Goa could later be adopted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections thus making Goa a prelude of opposition unity.
Stephen Dias, Dona Paula
Brand ambassador for State elections
Elections for the Goa State legislative assembly are few months away. Goan voters have an opportunity to express their choice as to which party will rule the State for the next five years. It must be said that young voters and first-time voters form a considerable percentage of the electorate. They could well determine the fortunes of the individual candidates and political parties.
As per statistics, in the 2017 State elections approximately 42 per cent of the total voting population in Goa was in the age group of 18-39 years. This time around the percentage could be much higher. It becomes absolutely necessary for those youth who have crossed the voting age to get their names registered in the electoral roll and obtain their voters card. It must be said that the youth need motivation to be a part of the electoral process by way of exercising their franchise. Here is where the role of a brand ambassador for the state elections who is a youth icon assumes significance. Appointing a Goan icon as the brand ambassador for the polls will motivate the youth to get their names included in the electoral roll and exercise their franchise on voting day.
It may be recalled that in the 2012 assembly elections Indian pop singer and musician Remo Fernandes was appointed the Youth icon by the Election Commission of India. It is important to create awareness among young people of the importance of exercising their franchise. In this respect a youth icon as brand ambassador can play a vital role.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Satyagrah to Satyamev Jayate
After more than a year of protests, needless loss of @700 lives and untold hardship to millions of agrarian families, the Centre has ‘magnanimously’ decided to repeal the contentious farm reform laws; but make no mistake, there is no altruistic motive behind this move.
A below par performance at the assembly and local bodies hustings in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and West Bengal led to immediate scaling down of fuel prices and the spectre of impending defeat in the upcoming UP and Punjab polls brought about this change of heart as regards agrarian reform bills which were anyway not well thought through, flawed and poorly drafted to begin with. Branding everyone who opposed the purported reforms as anti-nationals and terrorists did not help the government’s cause either, neither did subjecting peacefully protesting farmers to oppressive physical and mental torture.
The only ‘inner voice of conscience’ our netas listen to is the sound of the election bugle. Dictatorship masquerading as democracy has never worked in any part of the world; it is people’s power which ultimately prevails. The unravelling of this chain of events also underscores the fact that in a democracy, consultation, discussion and parliamentary debate is vital.
Hubris always meets its Waterloo in resolute satyagrah, that should be the biggest takeaway for the Centre and truth ultimately prevails. Hope this sordid saga ushers in a new dawn of people centric rule in India.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan
This is with regards to “In Goa, Oppn says its politics, BJP calls it act of responsible govt” (Herald 20-11-2021).
Finally PM Narendra Modi decides to repeal three controversial farmer laws. Needless to say that a wave of relief has spread among the protesting farmers with spontaneous celebrations breaking out where they have been protesting for almost a year now.
This sordid tale with a happy end has a Goa connection. The former Goa Governor and incumbent Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik deserves all the credit for his bold stand. Satya Pal Malik has demonstrated time and again that he — true to his name — is an upholder of the truth. He believes in calling a spade a spade. If his personal viewpoints do not match with the viewpoints of that of his party, Satya Pal Malik does not shy away from airing his personal viewpoints on public forums much to the embarrassment of his party.
Satya Pal Malik would always advise the Delhi government in power to listen to the protesting farmers and give in to their demands if BJP wanted to return to power. He had gone to the extent of offering his services as an interlocutor between the protesting farmers and the government of the day.
Today the former Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik is a happy man. His stand is vindicated. PM Modi has heeded Satya Pal Malik’s advice to accept the demands of the protesting farmers. Satya Pal Malik’s stature as a statesman has only grown by leaps and bounds in the eyes of his admirers. He has come across as someone who is not scared of swimming against the current. Hats off to Satya Pal Malik. May his tribe increase.
Gafaar Shaqoor, Margao
Football will miss Novy Kapadia
With the passing away of Novy Kapadia on the eighteenth of this month, the world of Indian football has lost its voice. Hailing from one of the few Parsi families settled in Delhi, Novy attended the iconic institutions St. Columba’s School and St. Stephen’s College where he played football with all the passion the game deserved. Moving on to teaching English at Delhi University and later becoming its Deputy Procter, Novy became an authority on Indian Football and one of the finest radio and TV commentators of the game who interspersed the happenings on the field with a plethora of interesting anecdotes from the past. He was equally successful as a sports journalist and his columns in national dailies were read with great interest. The eminently readable books on football that he authored are a testimony to his vast knowledge of the game that he loved and adored all his life. While he covered as many as nine FIFA World Cups, he was equally at ease with other sports as well and his despatches from the Olympics and Asian Games were a treat to read. He was particularly familiar with all the top players of Calcutta, Goa and Hyderabad football of the yesteryears and his razor sharp memory could reel off their field exploits with encyclopedic precision. It was, therefore, a great irony of fate that such a lively person, who was humble to a fault, was immobilized with a rare but debilitating disease which affected his physical and nervous movements for more than 2 years.
Sports had to intervene with a special grant to provide a little relief. A gentleman to the core, he never complained as he now passes on to higher life.
Bhaskar Roy, New Delhi
