It was the first Legislative Assembly session after the exit of Manohar Parrikar. It should have been new Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar’s golden debut, but the chief minister was rendered speechless when pounded with questions on the reissue of a licence for an offshore casinos. It was so different from the time when Parrikar would stand and answer for every minister, defending them and his government. From the media gallery it was obvious that the change in chief ministers had wrought a massive change in the manner the government was run.
Everything was different. The business transacted was lackluster. The budget was cautious. There were no big ticket announcements. The only thing that stood out was the emphasis on generating funds to continue the schemes which are largely meant for the ruling party MLAs’ constituencies. Even the customary fireworks were missing for most part of the session, as the opposition Congress – except to some extent Vishwajit Rane – ceded their space to independents Rohan Kaunte and Vijai Sardessai.
One got the feeling that the session management was planned by the combined Opposition and only specific issues that could generate the maximum mileage in the news the next day were raised. The government was pushed on the back foot a couple of times and not having someone of the personality of Parrikar to jump up and enthuse his fellow MLAs saw the normal pyrotechnics and the spark missing from the sessions.
Issues were raised, and handled; points came up and were discussed. But the feeling was of a routine day at the office. There was no passion and, well to repeat, no spark.
There was one valid point that the chief minister made which did not get much coverage. It made one realize that the BJP, and its Sangh affiliates and ideologues, are conscious that the reason the BJP was voted to power was because of the anti-Congress and anti-corruption wave prevailing in 2012 that was liberally fanned by the then Opposition.
Parsekar made it a point to stress that the State government stands by zero tolerance towards corruption. “I assure the House that no MLA or minister will be allowed to interfere when action against a corrupt officer is initiated,” Parsekar said, and went a step further, underlining the fact that this has been a problem that the present government still faces and could become a problem as the party girdles itself up to begin its soft campaign for the 2017 Assembly elections.
