The next CM, ministers and all officials should hang this picture on their office walls

Every Goan should stop, see this picture, and think deep. The woman carrying her elderly relative (we presume it’s a daughter carrying her mother) to a polling booth in Panjim is the most direct and telling reminder that beyond everything else including adjustments, deals, strategies, and planning, elections have always been, are and should be about the voter.

This single act of an elderly woman, – she could be your grandmother, mother, aunt, or your next-door neighbour, is a direct, telling reminder to all candidates, the government that will be formed after March 10, has to be about her. She represents all of us. She represents the young adult, the middle-aged professional, and the elderly senior citizen who has paid taxes and deserve a dignified retired life in their sunset years. She represents a young boy with dreams and a young girl with aspirations. She is the office goer, the government servant, the municipality worker, the taxi operator, the farmers, the IT professional, the engineering student, the shack owner, and the fisherwoman.

SHE IS YOU

Everyone who is elected to serve our State on March 10 should hang this picture on their walls before they do so of their party leaders and those mandated by the Constitution. This picture should find a place on the same wall.

It is a reminder that when policies and programmes are framed, the sight of this woman being carried to the polling booth should remind them who their masters are.

Every action of governance, be it drafting a law, introducing a scheme, clearing a mega project, building a road through a forest, expanding a railway line to carry coal, cutting trees, dumping construction debris on fields, is taken only after considering the impact it will have on the common Goan, like the elderly woman and the younger lady carrying her.

Remember, it is the people who give you power, positions, and benefits. Out of those benefits, many politicians acquire wealth at the cost of the exchequer. That money is the money of the people.

The people will be watching

When the government runs with our money and contributions, why should dealers and contractors benefit from our money? And if a voter drops everything, battles health and disability and age-related ailments to go and exercise her franchise, the government must understand her message. And that is the people who “appoint” their representatives through whom a government is appointed. The people are masters and those elected are servants of the people.

Every action, every decision, every move of every candidate or party will be watched and it must pass the people’s test. Above all the people’s mandate has to be respected at all costs and at any cost.