When you reach the nadir, it isn’t really a pretty sight. On one hand the Congress released a list of 27 names, claiming that an age of freshness and newness had arrived. On the other hand, it continued to play both sides, almost teasing Goa Forward, NCP and Babush Monserrate into believing that a full-fledged seat adjustment of close to ten-odd seats on the cards and then did a U-turn to give the impression that they would end up getting one or maximum of two seats each. Meanwhile candidates of Goa Forward and NCP who had plunged into the campaign and had even spent money, were left shell-shocked at what was going on.
Goan politics is now littered with the debris of betrayal. Parties betraying candidates, parties betraying fellow leaders, games being played within factions of the Congress and so on. But above all the biggest rock in that debris of betrayal has been of the people. Where is the so- called united strong Congress? Where is the concept of all coming under one strong declared leadership, agreeing to work together?
Today each Congressman, and even potential allies are doing deals and strategising, for their own ends.
Hidden in the first list are clear signs of who the Godfathers of each of the candidates are. And each of the Godfathers will work towards ensuring that their handpicked candidates win. It doesn’t matter about the rest since they would in turn pick their own Godfathers in the Chief Ministerial race.
But we ask, where is the deal with the people? Has any thought been spared to even realise that democracy about people, their aspirations, their needs and an election is all about going to them with a vision.
Here, in this dirty cesspool of deal politics, the real issues of the people are forgotten or simply kept in abeyance, issues of health, educations jobs, protection of the environment, special status for Goa and regulated mining which would concentrate wealth in the hands of the people. Some of these promises may be in some documents, but beyond the cut and the paste, is there a team to give life to these promises by first going to the people before the elections and speaking about them.
We ask, when will you talk to us? This we ask of the so-called principal opposition party. It’s not that people have not come to us, and spent time with us, or explained to us what a people led Goa will look like, but these are not from the Congress. Or the BJP either. Don’t you think that the official principal challenger Congress, needs to at least tell the people of Goa on what grounds they are going to challenge the ruling party and what its plans are for Goa.
Or will the entire run up to the elections be spent in posturing, alliance talks and a crazy last minute rush of nomination filing, withdrawals and friendly fights. This is the biggest betrayal, of the people of Goa. But for a change people are not waiting, and they will not wait. They are empowered enough to take decisions and if they cross the threshold they will not look back at the Congress and who they ally with.
People anger is rising. And frustration too. It is high time that Congressmen get out of their rooms, their flights and their cars and take a long hard look at the people and realise that they have their work seriously cut out.
