The Congress may be ruling Goa but it is no way
shinning for the party and there is no feel-good
factor whatsoever amongst the party troops. The party
is in dire straits. The greed for power and prosperity
which was earlier restricted to the legislative wing
has now spilled over to the party's organisational
wing and will eventually creep into the local block
units.
The Rane Government like the River Princess seems to
be grounded with political debris all around but no
one seems to be ready to account for the rubble.
During the BJP rule when many so called Congressmen
were jumping ship it was Adv. Uday Bhembre who
shouldered the challenging task of heading the
Congress Party's intellectual cell and bringing some
valuable researched contribution to a party that was
straying into wilderness.
It has been my privilege of knowing Adv. Bhembre over
the last two decades and interacting with him more
closely over the last decade.
One has to meet Adv. Bhembre to know the unadulterated
politician, a focused writer, a fearless orator and an
impeccable refined personality who is also a gentleman
to the core.
On various public interest issues I have taken up over
the years I have always first called up Adv. Bhembre
to seek his expert, mature advice and guidance.
There seems to be an attempt now to character
assassinate Adv. Bhembre by a letter according to
media sources ostensibly written by a RSS fanatic
Datta Sripad Naik but printed and published in a
section of the media under the name of the
disqualified and now semi-qualified Cortalim MLA
Mathany Saldanha who has himself in a very big way
been a benefactor of the BJP.
Fearing by-elections in his constituency Mathany has
belatedly spoken on the Dabolim issue. Why was he so
mute and dormant while supporting the BJP and as a
Minister himself later on vital Goan issues, one
wonders.
With the next Goa assembly elections soon approaching
unless the Congress power hungry politicians get their
act together, Goa may again slip off the Congress Map.
Goa's Congress leaders have to realise that though the
CM's chair is four legged it can accommodate only one
head though we have at least six front runners who are
gasping for the position. Its time we stop playing
snakes and ladders. Games at Goa's expense should be a
recreation of the past
Whether on Mopa, IFFI or the burning garbage issue it
is an irony that the Congress cannot get their act and
thought together.
It's pathetic that after over a decade of being in
power in the past, the Congress in Goa has not been
able to move to a decent office premises from the
dingy shanty decaying accommodation it has been
politicking from.
If each of the Congress politicians who have made it
from rags to riches just pitches in a crore from the
mind boggling wealth they have amassed, the party
could easily have a state of the art Congress Bhavan
in Goa.
The Congress has to very soon resolve all their
never-ending party wranglings and internal feuds and
get a serious grip of the various serious issues
confronting our State.
Among other very serious issues, the deteriorating
health of Goa Medical College needs urgent attention.
It was designed as a hospital and cannot be allowed to
be transformed into a morgue. It was hoped that it
would have been a priority for the Congress leaders
and that they would have started with at least
sprucing the ICU wards where they have personally seen
the problems after conveniently seeking refuge there
during the BJP rule courtesy Manohar Parrikar.
Let us be very clear whether we want to promote Goa as
a tourist and investment destination or allow our Goa
to be projected as a garbage, stray dog/ cattle and a
malaria destination being run and mismanaged by
political prostitutes.
Goa needs a Chief Minister who can deliver. The
princely and royal Rane has to realise that we cannot
afford a ceremonial incumbent. It's time Pratapsingh
Raoji Rane, as the longest serving legislator starts
enjoying the bumper pension he will now reap after the
recently passed legislation for the benefit of
retiring MLA's.
With Diwali fast approaching let us hope that the
festival of lights will usher into Goa a Chief
Minister who can govern. And in the present scenario,
though Dr Wilfred De Sousa would definitely be nursing
a hope for the one last rock and ride on the CM's
Chair, it is only Ravi Naik that may be able to steer
the Congress Party out of its woods. But its Sonia
Gandhi who will have the last say.
Aires Rodrigues
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