KARSTEN MIRANDA
MARGAO: Drop in at a teashop in any corner of Nuvem constituency and you are bound to overhear chatter involving the rumoured whereabouts of their missing-in-action MLA Francisco (Mickky) Pacheco.
One question being asked in the villages is when will the MLA return and how long will the local residents be without a MLA they can approach.
Stung by the gossip and under pressure, the three offices of the MLA situated in Loutolim, Nuvem and Betalbatim have been working in overdrive to tend to the various requirements of the locals. But one thing they cannot do is sign for the MLA and so they have enlisted the aid of friendly MLAs, as applications for various government schemes, like the Dayanand Social Security (DSS), need a MLA’s signature.
“We have made sure that everyone who visits our offices for a signature is not sent back and we have been actively following up with all their requirements,” said Anzil Godinho, Nagoa panch supervising the work at the offices.
When questioned who signs these forms, Godinho expressed his gratitude to GVP’s Benaulim MLA Caetano (Caitu) Silva, Navelim MLA Avertano Furtado and Velim MLA Benajmin Silva.
Independent MLA Vijai Sardesai has also been offering his help to the people in this regard and said, “As a people’s representative I have been rendering all legal help to the people, my neighbours, who have been deserted by their elected representative whose priority at the moment is to save his own skin.”
“We have not deserted the people. You can ask anyone who has visited our office. We have seen that close to 2,250 life certificates have been given to the people,” Godinho said.
He also credited ZP member Nelly Rodrigues for being their guiding force and added that the MLA’s offices have been taking up all the locals’ demands and issues with government departments and across panchayats in Nuvem constituency.
Pacheco’s detractors are however, not impressed and state that a castle without its king does little to give confidence to the people that their grievances will be addressed.
“There is only so much the panchayat or MLA office can do. What happens when we have sensitive matters that require the MLA to intervene? What we need is an audience with our MLA to inform him what our problems are. Otherwise we can just approach the government directly,” said an annoyed Betalbatim resident.
Locals are wary of coming out in the open with their views opposing Pacheco fearing a backlash. They complain that their issues range from minor problems like houses getting affected by lack of pre-monsoon works or larger concerns involving permissions from various government departments for personal business operations.
“At the panchayat level they are doing a lot for us but for instance the recent rains affected my crops badly. I wanted the MLA to take up the issue of compensation or subsidy in the Assembly. Who will do that?” asked a Nuvem farmer.
Taking advantage of the vacuum in Nuvem, the Congress has jumped to augment its Block membership and address the problems of locals who have approached them. Taking the lead is ZP member Wilfred D’Sa who joined Congress recently and who work is not spelling trouble for the dwindling fortunes of the beleaguered former RDA minister.
D’Sa, who was instrumental in helping Pacheco win the Nuvem seat, supported the Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and ensured that BJP’s winning candidate Narendra Sawaikar did not get a lead in Nuvem constituency despite being backed by Pacheco.
Political analysts also talk of the rising stature of D’Sa who emerged victorious, much to Pacheco’s dismay, in the Nuvem ZP constituency elections comprising the villages of Nuvem, Verna, Nagoa, Majorda, Betalbaim and Loutolim. D’Sa retained the Nuvem seat in style, defeating the GVP candidate polling a whopping 3,347 votes as against just 1,506 votes polled by GVP’s Marcelinho Faria.
The same trend was reflected at the panchayat level with D’Sa backed candidate defeating Pacheco’s nominee in the Loutolim panchayat bye-election.
Against this backdrop, it appears that Pacheco’s image will continue to be dragged through the mud till the time he surrenders and whether he retains his hold on the Nuvem seat after undergoing the stipulated jail term, only time will tell. D’Sa has already made it clear he is ready to take on his friend-turned-foe and Pacheco’s disappearance has provided his rivals substantial ammunition.
As things stand, the ball is in Pacheco’s court.
