With elections being that litmus test for parties aiming for a shot at power, the redoubtable fact that a mandate from the voters is what will make or mar the fortunes of political dispensations more than vindicates the power of the people. This is what democracy is all about!
If however a majority is hell-bent on having a minority of fools to preside over them, that’s the State’s misfortune.
When considered from every conceivable mathematical logic, the representation of 40 for an estimated 15.9 million population is in itself a misnomer of sorts.
How can the need for 40 MLAs for a State as small as Goa be justified? Divided into just two districts what has necessitated the surfeit of legislators? Perhaps it is all about the science of representative politics which has brought about this compulsion! But the fact remains that it has been this ‘surplus’ which has changed the very face of Goa.
The problem for the coastal State is its ‘rich’ repertoire of politicians; politicians who have donned various garbs over the years.
Over the years, various political dispensations have taken shape in Goa only to disappear after providing the necessary impetus to fledging political leaders.
The rule of the people, by the people and for the people has now been contorted to mean anything but a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.
It is now a reign of the elected representatives who collude to have their might exerted over the people! And have they been uninterrupted stints of rule. Managing to stay afloat in the state’s political firmament for decades, nearly half of the State’s woes could well be the consequence of their insignificant existence in the august House where they continue to be tolerated only for their ‘seniority’ status.
Considering that politics is now seen as a viable business proposition, an element of commerciality will always be associated with politicians. Aggressively marketing themselves in respective electoral districts, they are but products that gain the approval and endorsement of the constituents. Therefore, just as consumables which have a shelf-life, it is necessary that politicians too are withdrawn and replaced periodically.
Moreover, if nothing is permanent in politics, why is the ‘permanency’ tag being sought by legislators who want to represent ‘their people’ for eternity? Besides imposing term limits on our leaders, it becomes imperative that a retirement age too is assigned to them. But will there be a serious consideration on this matter ever?
Although there is no upper age-limit prescribed for MLAs, there is a minimum eligible age for contesting elections to the state assembly.
More recently, young leaders exhibiting more political maturity than politicians double their age have prompted a general view across the country that those well past their prime should consider retirement from active politics.
