======================================================================== Goa's phone numbers change from Nov 10, 2002. Prefix old number with a 2. New numbers will be seven-digit 2XXXXXX (where XXXXXX is the old number). ========================================================================
TitBit 016 (A Rigid Political Commitment Required) The BJP's bluff has been called, that of "the party with a difference" in numerous instances starting with the Tehelka expose and ending with the drubbing that it has received in quite a few states, including its base, the UP and recently in Jammu and Kashmir. Most importantly, it is the bickerings in the BJP's rank and file in UP where party discipline has been thrown to the wind and each one is for himself. The 'coup de grace' will be the election results in Gujarat. All eyes are now on the Gujarat election campaign. That Gujarat is going to be a battle field, there is no doubt when things have already started hotting up with scuffles and mini riots. The Congress and all other political dimensions in Gujarat must realize that it is of utmost importance that they should keep their differences aside for once and work out a formula so that all secular forces can come together on a common programme of defeating the Narendra Modi/Advani agenda in Gujarat. And that has to happen sometime soon, The entire foundation of the BJP has been anchored in quick sand of religious bigotry and chicanery for the ascendancy to power. And towards this end, Congress' Sonia Gandhi 'not being averse to coalition politics' is the step in the right direction. Given the priorities of fighting, defeating and rooting out the two most looming evils in the Indian polity, the CORRUPT and the COMMUNALS, the first pop shot has to be directed towards the latter, for the poison of corruption is the poison of the heart and slow acting, but the poison of the communalism is the potent poison of the mind, fast acting and devastating, leading to rabidness in the otherwise peaceful society. The BJP has been blowing its horn over it's seeming victory in Goa. But, infact, it is "thumbs down" for the Goa BJP, which went into the mid-term assembly poll by dissolving the assembly in the hope of getting a majority mandate. Today, it is in power only because the opposition Congress was in no position to choose its leader. Many say that this delay cost the Congress dearly and gave Manohar Parrikar the chance to woo the two first timers of the UGDP, and the two of MGP opportunists, who were over the board with eagerness to be in the ministry. So where is the difference that the BJP has been talking about? The justification given by Manohar Parrikar for illegally resorting to the dissolution of the assembly and calling for fresh elections was that he could'nt work with the fractured mandate, and that he needed a majority mandate to work things out. But having got the same old situation of a fractured mandate, Manohar Parrikar has been seen working at just two angles. One, to stick to the CM chair at all cost by entertaining each and every MLA of the ruling as well as the opposition camp, and two, to consolidate BJP's position by using the government as the propaganda machine in the hope of bettering his prospects in the next elections, which are expected to be announced as early as 2003 if BJP tastes victory in Gujarat or latest by 2004 to go with the parliamentary elections. It is said that with Manohar Parrikar at the helm today, any MLA, whether belonging to the ruling or the opposition camp can easily avail of sanction to visit foreign lands for fun and frolic at the cost of the tax-payers. Look at the way these MLA's are buzzing around on the international air routes. Having gone through Parrikar's letter that seemingly bowled Dr. Wilfred D' Souza into accepting the cabinet rank post of Dy. Chairman of the Planning Boards, it looks as if Manohar Parrikar has a very good "vision of Goa" . I would have expected that he, being the CM, and most vocal of his love for Goa, that he should have a "Vision for Goa" instead. The talk of the 'vision of Goa' that Parrikar has bowled Dr. Willy over to his side is the vision that we see every day. The vision of rampant saffronising of the government, may it be the judiciary, the Governor himself, the police, the works. The vision of rampant 'Matka'. The vision of the Panjim Corporation Bill. The faded vision of the Miramar Beach Privatization, the campal rain trees, the influencing of the Election Commission vis a vis election code of conduct and the removal of 3000 thousand odd voter's names from Panjim constituency. The vision of the heavy lid on the META affair and the Miramar Sex scandal, the lid on the Tanuja murder case. And most importantly, his vision of Goa becoming a slave to RSS under his helmanship where he has been bold enough to take goans for granted and marched in the RSS parade donning the colours of the RSS. The vision that Parrikar's press secretary and now the Director of Information, Rajesh Singh is sending out from the very core of his administration which was hitherto never heard of coming from the center of governance does not send the right signals. These people who talk about saving and protecting religions and religious beliefs and cultures must realise that religions do not feed people's stomachs. That religions must survive on merit or perish. People are not what they were centuries ago. Today, people see what is happening in the world and are nursing ambitions for themselves too. And these ambitions will be very difficult to control no matter what. And as far as Dr. Willy is concerned, and as Aires Rodrigues has rightly said, it is not for the love of the good old Doctor, nor for his vast experience that Parrikar has bowled him over to his side, it is only to perhaps discredit him in the near future, telling the people of Goa and scoring a point "Look, I tried to work with Dr. Wilfred D'Souza for Goa's sake, but it is unfortunate that he has been putting roadblocks in the path of smooth government planning , and therefore he had to be sacrificed". I am sure, such a thought must have certainly passed through the experienced mind of the good Doctor and has decided what is best for himself. There lies the great faults of our polity where political leaders are given to hobnobbing with danger with abandon taking the carefully cultivated following down the cliff to die of frustration for being cheated and deceived. It is not possible to have a 'Vision for Goa" when one is working full time to consolidate one's position to be in power. In this case, the vision becomes blurred and short sighted. The real vision for Goa must originate on sound principles, foresight and inclusive of a hell of a lot of self-sacrifice and commitment. Today, we have the opportunity to see where our national polity is leading us to. Greed and self-centredness of our political leaders, parliamentarians and state legislators is becoming the national bane. There is no governance, only opportunism. This trend is not going to be overcome in a jiffy , as much as Shri. Shivendra K Sinha or the senior Shri. H.D. Shourie or Shri Khuswant Singh may wish to.( NT Panorama 10 Nov 2002) It will last until the nation is bled raw and dry until it will be the for a bloody revolution, just like the one France has seen with greedy heads rolling in the dust by thousands. Only then the nation will perhaps emerge as if from fire with a more potent determination and will power to succeed or perhaps it will go down like a ship in the eye of the storm, plunging in the deep trough, never to surface again, lost forever. If discipline and self-sacrifice is to be the guiding light of our national polity, these must be seen to be included in every political party's agendas and constitutions. If this rank selfishness and exploitative opportunism by the elected representatives is to be altogether stopped, then the leaders of the political parties must have the vision, determination, self denial and transparency. As an example of these ingredients, which can see the end of this infighting and destabilization of governments, Goa Su-Raj Party, the name which stands for "Good Governance" has shown the way that this can be achieved with ease. It has constitutionally limited the cabinet size for Goa at 5, while disallowing any elected representative to hold office of profit (ie. Chairmanship of Corporations etc). The cabinet will be chosen by the general body of the Party through its in-house election at the party convention immediately after the elections, distributing portfolios as balanced blocks where discord and infighting by the cabinet ministers for superior portfolios is totally eliminated. In case of rotation or reshuffling of the cabinet members, the identification of the ones to be newly inducted will be already decided at the above election by the place one occupies in securing of votes from convention delegates. If this system of party management is established and accepted by all candidates who will be fighting elections on the party tickets, then the cause for future discontent and destabilization of the government will be eliminated. The onus of running the government must be on the Party and not the Chief Minister or Ministers, who will only be the CEO and managers with the control firm in the hands of the Party. And with the care free run of the full term in office a particular government can only do good before it is put to trial again in the elections for the second term. And if the MLAs know beforehand that they may not necessarily get the tickets for the second term, their performance during the first term will not be that of pleasing and investing in a section of voters to build vote-banks, rather, they will concentrate on the work at hand and impress upon the party of their managerial skills in the hope of landing the ticket for the last and final second term. If this does not work, I don't know what will. But for this recipe to work, there must be a few persons here and there who will take up the challenges for the sake of their beloved State and for their beloved Motherland. And, the way things have been going, chances are that it may be a very difficult task to find a handful of persons who will come forward for this great cause, only to give and nothing to take. It is saddening to see that we have all gotten used to getting things without really working for them. And, if this situation does not improve in the near future, it is only going to strengthen the hands of the likes of Alexys and Kerkars who will have a field day in regaling and entertaining Goans with the style and mirth in belittling our sons of the soil politicians, in the field that only they excel. Cheers Floriano ---------------------------------------------------------- What's On In Goa (WOIG): Nov 06 Children's book exhibn opens, Walkabout, Anjuna... (all weekdays) Nov 06 ArtHouse, Calangute: Chaitali's acrylics on canvas till 19.11 Nov 07 Revision of electoral rolls (till Nov 30) See schedule. Nov 07 Creative science, for children, Goa Sc Centre (till 16.11) Nov 10 Corporate summit on IT and biotechnology, Intl Centre (till 11.11) Nov 17 Goan Engineers and Assoc meet, at Pickering, Canada. Nov 20 Fr Agnelo's 75th death anniversary, Pilar Dec 01 Two day conference, Goa Agenda. IT For Society. (Ends 2.12) Every Sunday: Music therapy sessions at Moira, 5 pm. 278, N.Portugal ----------------------------------------------------------
