It is easy to complain about politicians moreover when if the politician is a prominent leader like our CM Manohar Parrikar – but have we really tried to influence his work?
“Bhai” as we all love to call him is a human being just like us, who is open to criticism and often can be convinced if one has better arguments and a winning way of conveying him. A leader who has crossed the entire difficult path and sustained many strong storms in his 20 years of political career dedicating and serving the people of Goa.
For me Bhai is a mentor, a guardian, a teacher and a political guru who knowingly or unknowingly has taught and guided me throughout my past 13 years of political life and will always continue to be my role model who I look upon while serving the people of my constituency and state. If I don’t admit today then I will not do justice to my consciousness that yes it is Bhai who appreciated me and would console me when I was in need.
During my tenure as MLA and having got the opportunity to serve under his leadership to the people of my state, every day and every moment with him was a new lesson to learn and gain knowledge, his command over any subject or any issue was laudable.
Having got elected with the “BJP Parivartan” absolute majority government in Goa. He moved further on hand in hand with all compatible coalition partners and independent MLA’s who wanted to join hand in his vision of prospective and progressive Goa, not a moment was spared to think on the issue to get all the like-minded MLA’s together in Government formation and when it was Bhai as the CM, all wanted to join hands leaving their personal agenda / differences a distance away as all would do who would want to strengthen the hand of a person who wanted to deliver for the people of Goa.
A workaholic as we all know him as, a able administrator, a commanding personality, a absolute transparent and vibrant leader who sacrificed his life and one I will not be just if I don’t say that along with his life he even sacrificed the life of his immediate family members while dedicating himself serving for the people of Goa. Having got the opportunity to directly associate and work with Bhai, the rare quality of Bhai which I experienced is that he is someone who never gets tired of work and not a single day the bureaucrats working under his administration said let’s call it a day or like otherwise when I have witnessed the lights of the secretariat go off just before six pm until it opens at 10 am the next day, I must point out that the lights of the secretariat never went off during his presence in the CMs chair. Bhai always would perform to his best under pressure, be it the pressure from the opposition or be it the pressure of deliverance of governance; he always delivered and delivered in the interest of the people of Goa.
Once during a friendly tête-à-tête with Bhai when I discussed about certain policies and reforms to be taken on priority in the interest of the state at the earliest , Bhai with his arms around my shoulders shared with me that he want to play like Sachin Tendulkar, he mentioned that Sachin was a successful and admirable batsman as he did not hit each and every ball to the boundary or over it because the audience in the stand wanted to, but he did it only to the deliveries which he felt were the right deliveries to hit for a boundary or over it at the right time. Bhai further went on to inform me that just like a batsman one must take decision at the right time and only when he is certain with the topic or subject and when his conscious supports it.
My memory lane takes me to the past while in assembly, the discussions on the question answer at zero hours or for that matter raising issues in the interest of the state and its people, Bhai would always guide and assist me as a true mentor which makes me proudly say that whatever I am today is all because of the knowledge and blessings which Bhai showered upon me all these years.
Today we all talk about the Swach Bharat Mission of our beloved PM, but how many of us know that the mission was the brain child of our Bhai when he launched it on Gandhi Jayanti day way back in 2002. So also the 102 policy which is now adopted by the central govt. When he declared before election that Goa would be the first state in India to have cheapest petrol price, all the states in India were under pressure and many internal critics and even those from outside the state had apprehensions about the implementation of the scheme but here again Bhai stood up to his promise which he made to his people and today we all still avail the benefit of the scheme. Did we till date ever calculated our average monthly saving which we all benefit from the scheme?
Though many critics said and evaluated many things about his ability to run the state for the past 30 months , one must not forget that with the backbone of Goan economy broken down due to closure /ban on mining operation he stood with his chest out to serve the people of Goa specially the weaker section of our society. Not a single penny was deprived for the development of the state and its people; here I specially would like to mention about the timely disbursement of salaries of our government servants. The financial crunch of the state never deprived our people to avail the DSS, Ladli Laxmi and various other schemes of our Government, the credit which only should be heaped for the able and stable governance of our Bhai. Government schemes such as DSS, Cyberage, Griha Aadhar, Agriculture, Seaman’s Pension and schemes for Mining dependent are being even today availed by all deserving and needy people who have encashed upon the monetary benefits of the above schemes irrespective of cast/ creed and religion.
Despite the fact that it’s very hard to accept that Bhai shall be leaving Goa only to serve the nation as a Defence minister, it is also a moment of pride to all of us that the security of our country shall be under the tough and strong hands of our beloved Bhai. Goa which is otherwise geometrically a tiny state on the political map of India has got such a talented personality in its treasure that while choosing a person to take charge of the defence and security of our country the only choice of our Prime Minister is our very own Bhai from our very own land of Parshuram.
It was a hard call to take for Bhai to accept the offer of our Prime Minister, but then it is the call from the Nation to a devoted and patriotic person to take charge of the security and defence of the world’s largest democracy to resolve many serious issues with regard to national security both internally and externally from our immediate neighbours.
No doubts about his ability that he shall perform and deliver as a diehard patriot.
I have no doubts that even when bhai shall be in Delhi serving the nation, he will always be a guiding force to his successor who shall take his agenda ahead in making goa a progressive and prospective state.
It is our duty to give a voice to the values which are so desperately needed in Goa today. And it isn’t that complicated.
Whenever we part with someone, who is very close to our hearts, the farewell is not easy. It really hurts to say goodbye to someone who is close to you.”Bhai”- I shall always miss you.
(The writer is the ex-MLA of Fatorda Constituency)
