By the time you read this, every Goan will be on the edge of their seats waiting for the first trends and results to come in. And they will come in early. Some of you will read this when the first trends or even results are in.
For those contesting, it will be a time for hope and prayer. And while you do it Herald wishes to draw your attention to two slightly unusual, but very powerful and evocative images from Russia and Ukraine from which a lot of lessons can be drawn. In Russia, there is President Vladamir Putin whose people are on the streets protesting against a war which he alone seems to want. Putin is in the Kremlin attacking targets in Ukraine where civilians have been wounded. In neighboring Ukraine, a forty-something young president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on the streets with his people, fighting shoulder to shoulder, weapons in hand, ready to fight and even be martyred, opting out of a safe passage to fight for his country on the frontlines.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
What do these striking images tell us? Putin is on a quest for absolute domination, to feed his power machine for which no machines of war, including nuclear power, are untouchable. Zelenskyy is determined not to let him succeed by fighting to protect every inch of land, even at the cost of his own blood. The president of Ukraine has shown what the core of leadership is all about.
This is a message for those who win. Have Goa in your hearts, like Zelensky who has Ukraine in his heart along with fellow citizens.
This is a key message. Do not see victory as a shortcut to wealth
For those of you who think that winning a seat puts you on the short road to power and wealth, the people will ask, where will you take your wealth if you have no credibility? Where will your equity lie? Can you save it? Can you protect it?
To get credibility, spend long hours, days, and even years standing in line with the people, hearing their voices feeling their pain, fighting for their causes. You have to be with the people in such a way that you are truly one of them. Can big money give you that? That will never happen.
Do not try and fool the people of Goa by defecting in the name of ‘development’. People won’t believe you
DO NOT give ‘development’ a bad name by defecting in the name of development where the only development that happens is yours. This utterly shameful and heinous practice must stop. People will not forgive you this time.
DO NOT fool the people
DO NOT ever deceive them
DO serve them
Results of elections will fade. But credibility stays forever. Mahatma Gandhi did not become India’s President or Prime Minister. But he has his picture on every banknote printed in the country. But nobody could ever buy his credibility or equity.
To each winner, the people of Goa say, you are on test. The game of electoral numbers may have been won by you. You now need to win people’s hearts and get credibility. That will be your real election.
