Frankly, I do not know when was it last that we, Goans, voted for candidates, whom we could trust. Surely, we did in the first Assembly elections, in 1963, when the Goan electorate chose only between the United Goans Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak candidates, crushing the National Congress which had put up a number of “Freedom Fighters”. Almost all lost their deposits. The UG had several doctors and well educated candidates, while the ruling MG had a few, notable among them, Adv. Pandurang Shirodkar who excelled as Speaker and Tony Fernandes as Minister. However, it did not take very long for Goan politicians to be “emotionally integrated” into the Indian Union and follow the example of their counterparts in the country in shifting loyalties.
Later came the era of Aya Rams and Gaya Rams and the nauseating instability in Goa turned so common that we made history with as many as 19 Chief Ministers in 20 years, with one of them, Ravi Naik lasting only seven days, during one of his tenures. But, if we have had the misfortune, for decades, of not being able to cast a positive vote, nearly always left with the choice of a lesser evil, a greater misfortune was that good candidates had to bite the dust mostly because the electorate felt that “to boro munis punn amchim kamam korcho nam” or because for this very reason he could not stand a chance and would only divide votes giving an edge to an undeserving candidate.
Politics has turned into such a dirty game in Goa, that for many more years we may not have good people contesting elections. In fact, with vote-bank politics, earlier encouraged by the Congress and now by the BJP, original Goans will soon become totally irrelevant, particularly with all sorts of anti-Goan steps being taken by the present regime. It is not that we, Goans, have been any better than some of those whom we accuse of selling their vote. In fact, only in the last election, did we reject a few unworthy candidates. It is a different matter that the Party that was voted to power, with a hope, turned out to be the most treacherous and unscrupulous of all. It is also utterly disgusting that many Goans have lost their sense of self-respect, with some of even well-to-do ones prostrating before the politicians either with a “cotti” or for some small favours, which could have easily been dispensed with, to avoid being indebted to them.
With hardly a year for elections, the BJP will surely come up with sops to entice the gullible, even if it means to dent the exchequer a little more. It is selling a list of their achievements, which should include the non-removal of casinos, the 100% tolerance to corruption, the absolute focus in restarting mining and giving the mine-owners all possible concessions and exemptions, despite the financial crunch, the increase in electricity and water tariffs, the hike in RTO forms and stamp duty for affidavits, Power of Attorney, etc, the sudden stoppage of DSS scheme to some beneficiaries only (now restarted), the failure to implement the 73rd and 74th amendment, the delay in the Regional Plan, thus allowing builders to have a field day, obviously with some gains for the Party, the absence of garbage management plan and failure to lift garbage from the roads, within 3 months, the total betrayal on Special Status (with even the PM shamelessly going back on his promise) and last but not the least the biggest post-election hit – reduction of VAT on petrol, already partly reinstated and fully in the current Budget. But, apart from this, Goans have a bone to pick with Manohar Parrikar, who despite being MP from UP – one of the largest States – is trying to grab more of our scarce land to safeguard his position as Defence Minister.
The Navy occupies 2442.3396 acres of land in Goa and has requisitioned further 227.77 acres consisting of islands of Bimvel, Grande and Pequeno in Mormugao. The Army has in its possession 930.643 acres. And yet this man has the gumption to tell us that Defence does not need Goan land even if it is given free… At Keri, where he claimed he was offered land, he was rebuffed… Goans, in general, have no trust in defence forces, as far as land is concerned, and much less in the Defence Minister.
Parrikar tasted defeat, in his own bastion in Panjim, at the hands of another traitor, the consolation being that the former’s arrogance was subdued and the BJP was taught a lesson in their own stronghold. The Congress must do a reality check as its fate will perhaps be that of 1963, after a systematic and determined betrayal of people’s trust for several years. The BJP is surely keeping swords hanging on the heads of many, including Babu Kavlekar who was conspicuous by his absence at anti Defexpo public meeting on Sunday. So were almost all Congress and Goa Forward members who had made their presence felt earlier.
Political parties and politicians generally have no principles. But even if they claim to have some, they may have to forgo them to flush out a greater evil. If in Bihar, Nitish and Lalu could come together to defeat the BJP, surely we can do it too, provided we can shed our egos and our perennial feeling of self-worth that we are not only winnable but also Chief Ministerial material. If we are serious in uprooting the BJP, unity of all anti-BJP forces is the only way forward. Another five years of their rule will spell doom for Goa.
(The author is a retired banker)
