The Pandemic has Goa in pain. This pain could be more severe if Goans do not realise how the lack of a credible opposition would give the present dispensation another opportunity to hide its inability to address Goans needs in times of trouble.
If there was pain during the first wave, the second has been felt more severely because the government was caught napping while the opposition was left slumbering. At a time when people in Goa were scurrying for medical succour, the BJP government went into a self denial mode and all the Opposition could do was cry hoarse all over social media and press conferences leaving the sick to hope for divine intervention. This is not governance and these hard times make it evident that Goa lacks a strong Opposition to counter the BJP juggernaut.
The opposition is expected to step in when the government fails or to forewarn the government of impending failure. If the government failed, the elected Opposition failed too because both appeared flummoxed by COVID-19 and Goans bore the greatest brunt.
The opposition led by Digambar Kamat and other leaders have had their day in the sun and sunset. Their voices have little or no credibility against the present dispensation. The opposition today including the ones who were once part of the present Government have been tried, tested failed and appear literally worn out, playing the same broken record. Do they even have the moral right to hold the government to account and worse still, to advise the government? The truth is that the Opposition has, during the pandemic, proved to be political opportunists that have outlived their self life, public credibility and accountability.
When Goans were and are facing this unprecedented health crisis, the opposition could not do much because Opposition leaders were as unprepared, as the Government, and hence had no other option but whine rhetorically on social media and press conferences. Social media and press conferences raise awareness but cannot help solve problems.
COVID-19 has broken the soul of many families in Goa and this could not be the end if we let the omens of the past continue to haunt us and one such omen is our reliability on the old is gold adage. It’s therefore time to have an alternative political narrative in Goa where the tried and tested are benched and where a new fresh credible force with a track record is given an opportunity to let Goa rise from its ashes and be golden again.
Money will flow; lies will be newly packaged and the mess that was started by the Congress and carried forward by the BJP will be repackaged to once again bury the hopes and aspirations of Goans, if we do not keep 2022 as a benchmark to change our perspective of being ruled.
The pandemic has proved that we lack in health care and it needs way more attention than just optical rhetorics. Cyclone Tauktae has added to these woes with Goa been thrown into darkness as an aftermath. Healthcare, education, electricity and water are the arms of a government that are not difficult to achieve if we have the right people at the right places. Our problem is that we do not among the present lot and it’s only we who can elect a fresh force.
COVID-19 may not be understood yet, our future can.
