By Nisser Dias 3rd June 2014 Chief Minister seeks solace in commandments
The recent statement of the chief minister Manohar Parrikar that his government will continue to usher in development in the state irrespective of the voting pattern in the recent concluded Parliamentary elections is not only welcomed but should be accepted it the right spirit, just as he has accepted the voting model of the people. This is what is governance is all about. Bringing about development in the entire state for the benefit of the people. Elections will come and go but development should not be affected just because some sections of the people in certain constituencies have not given a lead to the current state government. There should be a distinct cut-off line between affiliation to political parties and ushering in development in the state because ultimately people irrespective of which political party they support or vote for will praise the government that is bringing in transformation in the state, alleviating people centric issues and the indicators will surely swing towards the government that looks at the larger picture rather than broods over spilt milk. The chief minister has struck a chord among Christians by saying that he shall be guided by the commandment, “though shall love thy neighbour” while developing Goa. Infact that should be the spirit; elections should not be the barrier in for stopping development in certain constituencies. With this principle Manohar Parrikar has shown political maturity in seeing the elections results or voting pattern in the right perspective. Having said that the CM had erred in comparing Jesuit priest Fr. Cedric Prakash to right wing fundamentalist Ram Sene founder Pramod Muthalik. He should have been a little more careful since the Parrikar is the alumni of Jesuit institution. So he should have been cautious while equating two identities, especially when Pramod Muthalik has a proven record of promoting hatred, violence and Hindu nation. While Fr. Prakash was cautioning voters about the fate of people in Gujarat under then chief minister Narendra Modi’s government. But anyway the chief minister has switched to love thy neighbour mode sometime now and we had failed to take cognizance of it. Only when he recited the Christian commandment that we realized that he has been practicing in for some time now. It looks like he had started practicing it when he forgave and made-up with his once sworn enemy Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho. It is yet to know if they are best of friends but surely like media puts it they are political foes turned friends. Politicians have a tendency to turn vindictive when they attain power. The incumbent chief minister did show similar traits in his previous two stints in power, but this time round he is showing a great deal of political maturity and accepting criticism in the right spirit. He might have reacted when the criticism was unwarranted but overall he has maintained the composure and dignity that should go with responsibility as the chief minister of the state. But what has been noticed in the recent past is that while Manohar Parrikar has been able to overcome anger or vindictiveness over criticism against him but he still gets agitated over criticism against the speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Can we forget his statement against activist advocate Aires Rodrigues during the latter allegation against the speaker over land issue where Parrikar said that if criticism is directed towards him he can accept it but not against the Speaker of the august house and that he would move a breach of privilege motion against the lawyer. We are yet to know if the chief minister had any role to play in the police seeking to arrest Devu Chodankar for his post against the prime minister on Facebook? But then he did state that the arrest was not required in the case but the police sought his custody only when Devu did not respond to the summons. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar seems to be practicing forgiveness and overcoming the urge to ‘get-back’ at his critics. Maybe his frequent sojourns to Christian dominated Salcete must have helped him. But Saxtticars are not known to be the forgiving type. They can hold on to the anger and emotions for a long time and erupt when the opportunity surfaces. Remember the clean ouster of the Alemao family from politics during the assembly elections and more recently showing their anger at most of the Salcete ministers and MLAs for being quite over the airport at Mopa issue by giving the congress candidate a lead in the parliamentary elections. But what is interesting is that the chief minister is ready to put all this behind, keep the elections results aside and bring about development in all the constituencies in the state irrespective of BJP’s presence in the area. This is very interesting because it has always been the constituencies of ministers and ruling MLAs that get funds for development. But Chief Minister’s assurance that he wants to develop all the constituencies in Goa is a welcome change. [MODERATOR'S NOTE: Please do not crosspost to other addresses/lists while posting to Goanet]