Rregional parties in Goa down memory lane When things go wrong in political arena and elections are at hand, is but natural to experiment by floating a new political a party,hoping that problems will be addressed satisfactorily. In the beginning the ideology is authentic, the people are genuine, the enthusiasm is real and expectations are pregnant with quick delivery, but sooner than later it meets the same fate as other faded parties
At the start of our democratic freedom only two parties MGP and United Goansheld sway over a long period and people were polarized one way or other. Then difference between opinion poll or separate state the United Goans split to form Sunrise Party by Dr Furtado,. At the elections” sunrise party”set permanently into oblivion. The leaders were well respected and had following, Then Congress made an impact but to dissipate from Congress (O) to Congress (U) stretched to Congress I. Dr DSouza floated Goa Congress and only Luizinho survived. The GOa Congress lost relevance with Luizinhoembracing Congress I. Dr D Souza resurrected himself into NCP that was his possible last plunge. Ramaknt Kalap joined Congress and Supremo of MGP too became a Congress member. MGP fortunately continues to remain a float, in spite of losing its relevance Goa Vikas is the new party headed by Micky, NCP is without any member in Assembly and MGP with two members is keeping the embers burning having been overwhelmed by BJP. Joining with BJP, the MGP has literally eroded its base and popularity. AAP Party is still to open an account, though initially the high profile individuals gave it a colour and hope to fill the gap between BJPand Congress. Floriano is struggling for long to establish Goa Suraj party with noble values. PDF among others also had fleeting existence Surprisingly the remnants of UGP rise from slumber only during elections probably to do some bargaining to show their existence, seat sharing and hard bargaining. Now hints are ripe about Monserate intending to set up another party. Now comes the good news about an experienced, educated, intelligent is polishing the details of a new party. The news is accepted with guarded optimism. In fact the new outfits are to rehabilitate, disgruntled, discarded old fogies, who have lost their expiry period , it will be a mistake.The funding is what lures the parties to hob knob with such elements. If the new party breaks itself from old mould and tested principles of functioning of parties, it will be judged by its operations. National parties have some advantages, but mostly are remote controlled and dissent is not tolerated The supreme Commanders writhe pervades unquestionably . On the other hand local parties are in direct tune with their constituents and can decide with local aspirations and needs. The status of Mr PrabakarTimble is very reassuring, but the composition of Executive committee, nomenclature, ideology ,priorities, eligibility will be watched with interest, The national parties with their political clout, financial and experienced and being in power will naturally be threatened and devise ways to neutralize their opponents. Personal ambitions for power, fame, position,financial greed have in the past have sounded death knell of local parties in their embryonic stage The local parties are current flavor of politics, as seen from Tamilnadu, Kashmir, West Bengal, Maharashtra etc because of their specific focus of local needs for development Hope the new party to be born will grow into a full fledged mature adult and remain focused and not distracted by baits and disappear from the poltical horizon of Goa like its predecessors Nelson Lopes Chinchinim
