Over a period of time, Matanhy Saldanha has shown himself to be a bundle of contradictions. He seems to have forgotten that right at the outset, although his two erstwhile UGDP colleagues embraced the BJP, Matanhy stood apart and publicly proclaimed that he would only provide issue based support to the Government. Matanhy should explain what made him change his mind about keeping a safe distance from both the Congress as well as the BJP. Was it Radharao Gracias? Was it Monseratte and Micky Pacheco? Or was it Parrikar in whom he found a rock to cling to in a turbulent sea?
Matanhy Saldanha says "It is my firm belief the UGDP leadership is duty bound to inform me and the general public the reasons for the sudden change of heart and their love for the Congress". To this, I would say that Matanhy on returning from Spain, was duty bound to attend the meeting called up by the UGDP and put these questions to the leadership himself, and then inform his constituents. Instead he chose to sneak into Goa like a coward and hide behind the shirttails of Parrikar. If he was so convinced that the party was wrong, then the decent thing to do would have been to resign and distance himself from the party and its policies or lack of them, and face the consequences like a true leader since he so self righteously claims that he is a strict adherent to principled politics and his constant refrain is "all things I do are in the interest of the people of Goa" . He conveniently uses and abuses the UGDP to suit his convenience. In fact, to my knowledge, everytime a UGDP party representative went to meet Matanhy, he was fobbed off by Manohar Parrikar, who functioned as Matanhy's spokesman and gate keeper. Matanhy Saldanha also needs to clarify to the people of Goa, his views on the desecration of democracy by the former speaker calling in not only the marshals, but also the Vasco PI, to bodily lift Filipe Neri Rodrigues, from the Legislative Assembly chambers on the patently cooked up accusation of "unruly behaviour" to manipulate the vote of confidence in favour of the BJP led dispensation. Surely, Matanhy should be having an opinion on this, that is, if he has still kept his conscience intact, without gifting it to the party he supported. "I do not want Goans to be divided on the basis of religion and caste." says Matanhy. Then pray, what is he doing cohorting with a casteist and communal party, when if he was actually a principled person, he should have kept a safe distance from both the Congress and BJP and highlighted genuine issues that affected and afflicted the people of Goa. Would Matanhy like to issue another press release telling us about his feelings when public property in Panjim was vandalised allegedly by the supporters of the party he embraces, and when his colleague in the Government led a mob to vandalise a Mapusa hotel and when the controversial VCD was sought to be rammed down the throats of young impressionable students. It is amazing that a man who during his election campaign conveniently used Catholic priests and nuns to drum up support for himself, now stands on the pulpit and santimoniously preaches about being "non communal:". It is extremely unfortunate that Matanhy's "work and commitment to society for the last 28 years" has not been reflected in his period in the seat of power, not only in the decisions he took as minister, but also in his conspicious silence on the many wrong doings of the government he embraced. I recall once, in the Legislative Assembly Matanhy spoke in favour of reserving the Aguada plateau for a botanical garden, but voted against it. Again, his name was printed as part of the Committee on the AMbedkar Awas Yojana brochure, a scheme very much like the disreputable 20 point programme, which was mostly used to create housing colonies for outsiders as vote banks for politicians. Yet he brazenly pretended that he had nothing to do with it, and publicly spoke against the scheme in the media. Matanhy fasted for thirteen days in the Anti Meta Strips Campaign. Yet, once he was elected, he unilaterally came out with a statement saying the plant was non polluting, without taking into confidence the people who were in the vanguard and suffered along with him during this movement. Such was the man's commitment to his principles. When a person trusted and respected like Matanhy, betrays all that he stood for and articulated, then he does more damage in creating cynicism and despair in the electorate than all the run of the mill politicians who come and vanish in the dustbin of history. We Goans believed that this man was of a breed apart. Tragically, we were terribly mistaken. Diana
