Hear this from the Vice President of the BJP, a party Mauvin Godinho has well and truly joined, baring his formal induction. Reacting to the image of him performing rituals of like a hindu priest in Vaddem on the last Monday of Shravan, Dr Wilfred Mesquita said, “Mockery of culture can be done only under King Momo’s rule in the carnival season. During carnival one can do whatever he or she wants without hurting the sentiments of the people,”
Mauvin Goidinho has taken this advice to heart. With the political carnival of 2017 not too far away, Godinho has crossed the Lakshman rekha between being truly secular and inclusive and playing plain politics.
The image of him wearing the traditional attire of a hindu priest, may still have been accepted if people felt that the feelings were genuinely not linked to politics. But if you look at the backdrop of the intense rivalry between Godinho and his one time pet hate Manohar Parrikar, this picture comes as a rude shock. This is because even if many deny that there is any connect between Godinho’s rituals and his move to the BJP, pictures create perceptions and perception becomes facts. That’s the way the political cookie crumbles.
When Godinho was firmly in the Congress, he had charged then Chief Minister Parrikar of financial irregularities in the handling of the first International Film festival. Matters went to such a head that Godinho fought with of the State Congress and demanded to know why the Congress party was not even filing a case against Manohar Parrikar.
Parrikar on the other hand called him a corrupt politician who has looted the state treasury by giving power rebates which caused a loss to the exchequer. Godnho has for long fiercely fought this case and still awaits an all clear from the court.
Meanwhile old timers will recall how Godinho used to call the MGP a “communal party” and walked the streets of Panjim shouting slogans against Sashikala Kakodkar.
Politically speaking, Godinho is running out of choices. If he is given the Dabolim seat by the BJP, he needs the non Catholic votes. At the same time, he feels that the minority votes are. He is failing to realise that times have changed. People are much more aware and the saffron robe puja image, has not really endeared him to anyone.
Cortalim leader Raymond De Sa stated, “Everyone has the freedom to attend any religious ceremony at any religious place. We, as politicians, are used to visiting places like Masjids or Gurudwaras or even temples, but we never performed rituals like Godinho did. This has hurt the sentiments of many Christians.”
Some stray voices of support were heard though. “This is not the first time Godinho has gone to a temple to offer prayers. He was seen taking part in many religious functions, and he was acting as an individual, not a politician. We should not make this as an issue,” said Chandrakant Gawas, a social worker and businessman from Vasco.
While the Godinho camp maintains that he supports, participates and plays and observes Holi, Dandiya and Dahi Handi, Ganesh Chaturthi, it is the festival of politics he plays better than the rest. The dhoti clad photographs ‘Pundit’ Mauvin Godinho was therefore, not in a religious but purely political avatar.
Clearly, desperate times need desperate measures, but people are not fools.
