February 4 will be the day you will be pressing a button, hopefully the right one, for your children. For those of us who are grandparents or parents or will be either, this is no longer about you. February 4, 2017 will be the test of your commitment not just to Goa but for the future of your children and your grandchildren. You will have to make a choice and that choice will determine whether you will leave a people-led Goa, for your children – for the people, by the people and of the people – as the founding fathers of our Constitution envisaged.
Do not be fooled dear Goans, either by money power, or false promises. Let not the proceeds of loot come in the way of you making the right choice, a choice for a Goa which is indeed yours, where you have control over your land, your resources, your mineral wealth, where you have a say in the planning of your villages and cities, where development plans are not passed and notified with zone changes “sold” for the proverbial forty pieces of silver.
Above all, be careful of lobbies that control elections or politicians, such as the mining lobby, the casino lobby and the real estate lobby. Ultimately these lobbies, fund candidates and parties and even play a role on deciding who the Chief Minister of the State will be, by their proxy control over MLAs. And once that deed is done, these lobbies control and dictate policies and even go to the extent of determining rule changes and creating entities which can override existing laws to benefit lobbies.
Some associations are evident. Former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat’s association with the mining lobby is no secret. This lobby has dictated many of his political moves, including he leaving the BJP over night and joining the Congress. He has now suddenly emerged to lead the lobby aiming to cobble together a so-called alliance of parties and individuals which have nothing to do with the Congress except their greed for power. This is the finest example of politicians being dictated by the lobbies they owe allegiance to. And the end game is just power.
Then, there is the all powerful real estate and building lobby, whose biggest construction project is to ‘construct’ the government and cabinet of Goa. If the PDAs have gone on an absolute mad overdrive in getting the ODPs cleared, it is for no other reason than to quickly clear land conversions and approve higher FSIs for construction. Has this been done for the love of Goa and for those who work for the love of Goa? And let’s face this, this malaise cuts across parties.
Does it not surprise you the Regional Pan for Goa which should have been in the people’s hands, a document which should be the bible for proper planning of Goa for the next 20 years has been kept on the back burner while Outline Development Plans for urban areas, which mainly clear construction by converting agriculture and other zones to commercial, has been rushed through to beat the election code of conduct?
And then as far as the casino lobby’s influence on governance is concerned, the Deputy Chief Minister’s latest comment that “money factor” had to be kept in mind when re-locating casinos out of the Mandovi. He of course meant the revenue casinos generate but do keep in mind, the Chief Electoral Officer of Goa had to call a meeting of casino owners to ask them to ensure that their premises/vessels are not used to park cash during elections.
Over the next few weeks, what will happen is election deals will be struck and election management will be executed. It will be a cut throat race for power when issues will take a back seat and mathematics of vote garnering will rule. That’s when caste, community, religion will be used in an ugly and shameful manner to get enough to get past the finishing post.
The heart bleeds when you see the future of Goa getting shaped through an election where the game of numbers will be played over your caste and religious identity, when you will be a part of one herd, one vote back. If you want to be a part of a herd, then be a part of a herd of
true Goans who will elect and select for a Goa which they can take control of, a Goa for ordinary Goans who are ready to do extraordinary things for the land they love and live in.
This begs the question. What does all this mean and it’s the right question that each of you, have the right to ask. With five or six or even more candidates who will suddenly prop up like mushrooms as soon as the dates of nominations are announced, how do you use your vote for a better Goa? Come to think of it, it’s not too difficult really. Do the talking more than listening. During the campaign keep the focus on issues. On what the needs of your village, town and State are. Steer the discourse and then finally vote for someone who you truly believe will come closest to working for a Goa for your children.
The difficulty in understanding this doesn’t mean this is not understandable. It just means that we are so caught in the vortex of being treated as pieces in a vote bank, as a member of a caste, creed, religious group, that we as a voter have lost who we really are – a Goan or a lover of Goa voting for the future of our land and our children. And to do that, all such considerations have to be discarded when we press that all important button to decide our destinies.
Vote with your hearts for a better Goa, for God’s sake.
