A door often closes because a bigger one is open somewhere else”, I texted to console a friend who had lost a well paying job of many years. He replied back to say that he was coming down to fight elections in Goa. He may have said this as a joke, but seriously, there are plenty of vacancies here for clean capable people who can rise above personal interest to serve the State.
AAP’s stupendous win in Delhi have forced the main stream political parties to stop in their tracks to introspect and perhaps even got our Prime Minister to auction his 10 lakh suit. Mr Kejriwal’s game changing politics has indeed fired the hopes and aspirations of Goans even as it set panic amongst our typical “thoroughbred” politicians. Some politicians in Goa have started salivating over the prospects of duplicating an AAP kind of success here – they talk about strategies to vanquish the ruling dispensation and bury the Congress for good by using the Kejriwal model. Still others are trying to reinvent themselves to fit the AAP mould or simply jump straight into the AAP bandwagon. A supposedly good candidate in the Panjim by-elections even went to the extent of flaunting an endorsement letter by an AAP leader as if it came from God himself! The fact that the AAP, although a party conceived out of good sincere intentions by all indications, has still to prove itself is something that seems to have escaped most people.
Amidst all this hullabaloo, the people are still looking askance because credible candidates who are required to give shape and form to their raised hopes and aspirations are nowhere on the horizon. Will they appear when the people are ready? If we people don’t rally behind those who speak the truth or stand up for a good cause, we will never find such virtues in our public men. We cannot expect illegal gratifications from our elected representatives and still want a good clean government. Our MLAs today have all but forgotten that their primary job is to legislate and bring good rules and regulations and ensure that the rule of law prevails. It is truly said that in a democracy the people always get the government they deserve… If Goans want a Kejriwal kind of government, perhaps we all need to be little like Kejriwal first! Just beating this, and that party will not serve the interest of anyone except the political outfits that thrive on anti party sentiments and simmering local issues. What people really want is a healthy alternative to self seekers masquerading as leaders.
Mr. Kejriwal’s political ideology is basically about austerity, rule of law and protecting the common man’s interest against crony politics. How many of our so called leaders have stood up for Goa while it is being raped, plundered and our rich natural resources given away for a song? A few have made feeble noises, but in the kingdom of the blind king, I suppose, even they deserve appreciations.
