A few
days ago, between August 14 and August 19, Herald got you an image of a pensive
Malbhat and Pajifond as residents of Margao pondered over whether their four
time MLA and former Chief Minister will go behind bars or escape prison. A
tense court battle saw one of the musketeers continue to languish in jail in
the Louis Berger Goa Watergate Scam while Margao’s not so popular now, Diggubab
got anticipatory bail.
The ex-Chief
Minister escaped the first test of fire and escaped arrest for a scam in his
own tenure. But post that, a lot of water has flowed down the
and advocates and burnt a lot of fuel travelling to and fro from Panjim to
Margao. Investigations, raids, questioning, lawyer meetings and strategic
planning is what the former Chief Minister has been spending his last seven
days on.
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The
always accessible Digambar Kamat is now unavailable. His phone is switched off,
the black tinted windows at his home are shut, there is no familiar car in the
lane meaning he is not home, his PA shuns people from his Bharat Office at
Malbhat. This leaves Margao in a limbo.
People came
to their MLA for everything. When two brothers disputed over Moti Dongor, when
the municipality didn’t heed to a grass cutting call, when the PWD water supply
ran dry, to invite him for something as petty as a road inauguration to cut a
ribbon for their new business venture or to just come and start a puja, Diggu
was at the forefront of everything.
“Now our
MLA is going to be unreachable like Mickky Pacheco is to Nuvem constituency,”
was what we overheard two brothers discuss below Digambar’s Sanrit Apartments
flat. Nearby, while people just waited and watched on what happens next,
discussions have slowly been tilting to whether their MLA was really the
corrupt one.
“It’s
obvious, the 2012 drubbing from the way he ruled and people were disgusted with
his corruption and his band of ministers like Monserrate, Dhavlikar, Joaquim,
Churchill, Babu Azgaonkar, Kavlekar and Vishwajit. It’s better late than never
that these scams go public. He needs to be exposed and maybe Margao needs a new
MLA,” explains Comba resident Girish Sawant.
Similarly,
groups of dissidence against the MLA have started emerging. The civil society
led Nelson Fernandes, Ethel Lobo and Croydon Medeira has been vocal against
Digambar and Arthur D’Silva getting a clean chit while Churchill is being
treated indifferently. Similarly, former Chairperson, Savio Coutinho has gone
all out on local television to expose Digambar in whatever way he can. But
locals are disappointed over one government move.
“I think
Rajeev Gomes, by taking that role as Special Prosecutor in the case may play a
vital role in court. This move by the government has got one of Margao’s
biggest talking activists completely silenced which is detrimental and actually
gives Digambar the edge,” insists Jean Fernandes, a Pajifond resident who has
been regularly following the case.
While
parish priests from Churches in Margao and around Margao, Chaplins from chapels
of Madel, Aquem, Borda, Fatorda and Ambajim have been closely discussing the
issue of Digambar’s arrest, parents waiting for their kids along school gates
also want to know if their MLA will face jail time or get special treatment and
acquittal like he did in the entire illegal mining scam.
“From
placing a weak candidate in 2012 to ensure Digambar’s victory and to giving him
a clean chit in the illegal mining scam and then not giving this case to the
CBI, it’s obvious and evident that the BJP-Congress and the law to some extent
is biased towards Digambar and he will sail through for his past crimes which
is unfair to taxpayers,” feels an agitated Jeevan D’Silva from Aquem-Alto who,
like many wants Digambar gone and punished if he’s guilty.
Digambar’s
close aides prefer to stay quiet and talk at a later stage unlike the emotional
fans of Churchill Alemao.
