It is very strange that the present Government in Goa cannot introspect, for a while, and realize how ridiculous it is to allow practically the rule of a single man, whom they brought to power, alongwith some other late repenters and permit him to govern by not giving a ear to his colleagues’ opinions. It is abundantly clear that power has gone to his head. People’s or his Ministers’ sentiments are irrelevant. We are not unaware that most of these have skeletons, which may tumble out the moment they even think of a revolt. In fact, that is actually the reason why, in the first place, some of them defected to the ruling camp, as neither their conscience nor hands were clean. Today, the conscience has vanished and the fate of many of these is sealed, unless our voters have sold their conscience too.
Even after the rap from the High Court, he got emboldened by the stay of the order of the Apex Court and went ahead in his own inimitable style, without awaiting SC’s final decision. Eventually, he got a very tight slap, putting to shame not only the State and its people, but the democracy itself, which according to most of us and also the foreign press has been degraded to a great extent by the present regime at the Centre. The Supreme Court was unequivocal in slamming the State Government for appointing the Law Secretary as Election Commissioner with additional charge calling it “a mockery of the constitutional mandate directing that SECs must be truly independent bodies”. Any CM would have resigned with such indictment. But that is not to be expected from people who are law unto themselves.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
It is observed that just like cases of defections in Legislative Assemblies are to be decided by the Speaker, whose decisions can well be anticipated and are a foregone conclusion, making a mockery of anti-defection laws, similarly leaving delimitation of wards and constituencies and reservation of wards to Government servants, who are at the back and call of Ministers, can never be expected to be a fair and impartial decision. Even after SC pulled up the Government, reservations were done in such a way so as to exclude some people and stop them from contesting from the ward they belong to. The Government needs to explain how they can fix a ward for OBCs to contest, when there are hardly any such voters there. No doubt, no logic is expected from this despotic Government, as its only aim is to win elections by such manipulations.
The Government tried appointing as SEC someone, who I understand has no qualifications to occupy positions which he did in the past. Unfortunately, not many of our bureaucrats have an image worthy of such an important post. But it is not such people that the Government needs. What it does is bureaucrats who are willing to the Government bidding and prostrate and crawl, when merely asked to bend.
