The ban on mining in Goa has been making the national headlines, with Manohar Parrikar being its central character. Parrikar continues in the news, first for his airlifting to Delhi via Uttar Pradesh and now for talking either too much or talking out of turn. His outburst against ex-Prime Ministers for compromising India’s security is like a shot in the dark, for he hasn’t named any of the former PMs.
Understandably, Parrikar has been brought to the Centre and given the prized post of Defence minister to rally forces against the Opposition. He holds the distinction of having a degree from the prestigious IIT and, thereby, can command respect among his colleagues. His shooting from the mouth hasn’t gone well with the Congress, who, in turn, have been gunning for him. The foot-in-the-mouth disease is a known epidemic with the politicians and the BJP, with the new entrant Kiran Bedi, is displaying its symptoms.
One can see Bedi’s plight as she takes on the heavy task of winning Delhi for the BJP. If she fails, well Bedi will come a cropper in her new avatar as a politician. As a social activist and one who stood by Anna Hazare during the campaign against corruption and her police duties, including a brief stint in Goa, she earned her well-deserved stripes and also the Magsaysay award. Her once comrade-in-arms in this people’s fight to cleanse politics of the evil of corruption, Arvind Kejriwal, is now her biggest bugbear. The Delhi elections are being keenly watched and the results will decide whether it will be Bedi or Kejriwal who can move up on the political ladder. Kejriwal had a chance once and now want us to believe he blundered by quitting and that, after all, he’s human.
The Delhi results could throw a long shadow on the Panaji by-poll. Here is the seat of the erstwhile chief minister, who abandoned it to move to the national capital, and if his nominee, Sidharth Kuncalienker, who served as Parrikar’s under secretary, romps home against Surendra Furtado, Parrikar will have retained his throne. No doubt Parrikar’s shadow is still falling on Goa. Kuncalienkar’s victory will offer him an avenue to further dominate Goa’s politics. It’s not that the new chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar isn’t under the influence of Parrikar, and has even admitted to seeking his master’s advice on important issues. Parsekar owes his elevation to Parrikar, who along with like-minded people in the BJP ranks, played his role in putting paid to Francis D’Souza’s lofty ambition.
Hurt and wounded, D’Souza may still occupy the deputy CM’s chair but he seems to be working under the Damocles’ Sword. The unconfirmed rumours that D’Souza would be sent out to pasture with a gubernatorial post should be ringing alarms in his ears. However much D’Souza may try to be part of the Sangh Parivar, calling himself a Hindu-Christian, he isn’t an integral part of the family. He will be considered an outsider for all practical purposes. He may only count in the mathematics of communal politics and vote-getting. Unfortunately, the Catholic MLAs are not exactly a “ginger group” in the party. For sure, they’re not voiceless but their voice doesn’t carry far and wide.
In this context, one must admire Alina Saldanha for stepping on Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar’s toes. She rightly put Parulekar in his place by asserting that 200 metres No Development Zone must be maintained and not reduced to 100 metres as Parulekar wishes. He, like Parrikar, has been facing a backlash for shooting off his mouth. It seems the tourism minister wants to have resorts and other developments on the beaches, but he seems to be unaware that Goa’s environment needs to be saved from further encroachment and degradation. It appears that Mathany has somehow reminded Alina of his own fight to save Goa from builders and marauders who cared nothing for its environment or ecology. Parulekar doesn’t like NGOs who are in the forefront of the struggle to defend Goa’s beaches, forests and fight unscrupulous people who destroy the “green carpet” and builders who wantonly go on erecting residential communities in areas which are eco-sensitive. One can understand why Parulekar is in the centre of the Serula land grab case. The Tiracol Golf Course has brought the NDZ tangle out in the open. In golfing terms, it’s really below par now.
As we know, Regional Plan 2021 has not yet been de-notified. The 15 or so villages which have problems or issues with it are satisfied the RP 2021 will be hanging fire. The solutions offered are many, including D’Souza’s idea of implementing the plan by parts where there are no objections to it. As the new minister in charge of Town and Country Planning, D’Souza wants the plan to be set into motion. As long as Parrikar was holding charge of the portfolio, things were either not moving or moving at a snail’s pace, with Parrikar himself caught on his roadmap of U-Turns. So much so, that with his taking a U-turn to Delhi the road is open again. The tinkering of the plan seems to be on the anvil.
(Eugene Correia is a senior journalist who worked for the Free Press Journal, and the Hindu)
