SUJAY GUPTA
sujay@herald-goa.com
MAPUSA: This must have been over 40 odd years ago. Two young boys on the verge of adulthood and still not out of college used to walk down the slope leading to their college, St Xavier’s in Mapusa, every afternoon. They were neighbours, their homes barely 200 meters apart. One of them Francis D’Souza was quiet and the other Manohar Parrikar talkative and intense chatted mainly about politics as they walked to class.
Last week Francis, still a resident of the same area missed his talkative friend deeply even though he was often next to him or at least within shouting distance, as he saw his dream and ambition of becoming chief minister slip out of his hands rapidly. Francis found himself in an uneasy universe within the same planet of his party, a universe where Manohar did not walk with him. After 40 years of having a walking partner, Francis can be forgiven for having stumbled. Believing that as long as Manohar Parrikar was there, he would get naturally elevated, he “in a moment of emotion and passion” took the all or nothing route, causing ripples and concern.
In a long early morning chat at his home at Kamat Gardens, in Mapusa, he spoke for the first time, un-bottling many emotions and giving a sense of the man he is. More significantly, he spoke about what happened on the two fateful days between Parrikar coming to know of his “transfer” and the selection of the new chief minister. That period can be best described in three phases. The first was the natural assumption that Manohar would do natural justice by elevating him as his successor. The second – a hope that he would be considered and have the backing of MLAs with him and finally, the third phase of a hope against hope that at the very least, a process of one-to-one consultation would be held.
His third wish was granted as each MLA trooped into the room of the five wisemen – Manohar Parrikar, BS Yedurappa, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Puroshottam Ropala and V Satish – and mentioned their pick. But Mr D’Souza believes that most would have had a choice but said they would leave it to the party to decide. “Therefore their first statement outscored the second,” he said. Mr D’Souza feels that he had the support of 10 MLAs and in a three-way race with Rajendra Arlekar being the significant other – if the numbers game was actually played out like a secret ballot – the race could have been actually very, very tight.
In fact this was evident when he asked observer and BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy what the numbers were, Rudy politely replied, “The numbers were not with you. Let’s leave it at that.”
Francis D’Souza had so wished that this conversation had happened between ‘Babush’ (as he is called) and Manohar and not between an outgoing deputy chief minister and a central party observer. After all Babush is in the BJP because of Manohar and Manohar alone.
Looking at this writer during the Wednesday morning conversation, as the rest of his party prepared for Manohar’s grand welcome as defence minister, D’Souza said, “Ten years ago Parrikar sat on the same spot where you are sitting (in his spacious living room over the green valley) and asked me to join the BJP. I had joined the Congress (with Luizinho Faleiro as chief minister) for a month before splitting to be with the “coconut party” (as the Rajiv Congress was called because of its symbol). That is the time he asked me to join the BJP, saying he would take care of me. It was that trust that made me take a decision and it kept me going. I had no base and even my community wasn’t totally with me then. I’m a simple man but I have become the deputy chief Minister. I wanted to go one step higher, but realised that sometimes it is not even in Parrikar’s hands.”
But he did indicate that his hurt comes not from being denied the coveted post but from the fact that his friend did not talk to him at length and explain what was going on. It was at this point that he paused, his eyes moist, looking into the expanse of the green. At this point, the deputy chief minister of Goa, was just Babush, who once walked with Manohar up the slope to college.
The moment passed and pragmatism returned and he said, “But you know what, you guys are writing that I’m a loser. The real loser is Arlekar (Speaker Rajendra Arlekar). He had almost made it. He had the credentials. He is wedded to the RSS and therefore if that was the criteria then it could well have been him. No one has asked how he feels. I do not have the same credentials.”
Does he feel out of place now? “I can tell you I’ll never leave the party. I’m wedded to the ideology.” Asked if Parrikar’s exit and the choice of Parsekar as chief minister would affect the party’s chances in the minority dominated areas of South Goa, he said, “We will have to wait and see. We can’t say now but do realise that neither the Congress nor any other party have the cadre base to pose a challenge.”
With his friend Manohar gone, Francis D’Souza is getting ready to adjust to life without the “umbrella” of the former chief minister, who the deputy chief Minister used to call “anytime of the day or night” and when stuck on a decision, and Mr Parrikar would say “I’ll take care”. For Babush, it will be a lifelong regret that that his buddy didn’t “take care” when it mattered the most.
