Dear friends, I am a non-entity based in a small south Goa village of Salcete,a housewife with a very supporting husband who is involved in a relatively small scale marketing business.We are very happy with what the good God has given us in terms of our middle class lifestyle and our 2 young kids. It is no business of mine to interfere with the highly intellectual discussions on your forum ( and certainly have no intention to get involved in the murky world of goan politics )
HOWEVER, I happen to be a graduate in political sciences and wish to make a few humble comments on the current and future political scenario in Goa ( and only the love for my homeland has prompted me,after much afterthought and considerable discussion with my husband and elders in my family to write on this forum ) I may be ENTIRELY incorrect in my assessment of Goan politics ( but with the kind permission of the moderators ), wish to express my thoughts over this forum , in particular regarding Mr Manohar Parrikar.....a person I have never had any contact with personally but an entity who fascinates my family and friends. I ( and my family ),are ashamed to say that we never voted in a single election since liberation ( the main reason being that my family were too busy making both ends meet )....till the day when Mr Parrikar sought re-election after his first term as chief minister.The simple reason we did this ( and i stood in a queue for over 2 hours in hot sultry temperatures ,with a baby in arms desperate for her next breast feed ) , is simply because we thought ( and still think ) , that Mr Parrikar could change the lives of Goan the ordinary Goan people like me. I find it quite amazing that considering the undeniable mess Goa is in today,that we do not have a Mr Parrikar led government to guide us out of this situation.....for reasons I outline below : 1) It is an unquestionable fact that he is the best administrator ( and stands head and shoulders above the bunch of idiots who are currently part of the congress alliance ).The four odd years he was the CM was probably the only time i can remember when there was some semblance of order and direction. 2)He is an incorruptible person himself ( and had successfully curbed corruption overall during his term in power ) 3)In spite of being a BJP and RSS man, he is clearly a moderate (certainly at present ). There is no doubt he commited errors,like all human beings do,in his term as CM,particularly hurting the sentiments of the Catholic community...but a) has had the humility to apologise on the eve of the last assembly elections b) has clearly learnt from his mistakes and made a positive attempt to re-concile with the catholics ( both of which have been extremely courageous steps considering he has run the risk of losing support from the RSS hardcore....and probably has lost some core voters ). 4)Unlike the current CM ( and most other CM's Goa has had ),he is a man of action and not empty promises. This ( and the fact that his intelligence and ability for rapid decision making,stuff which other politicians in Goa cannot even dream of possessing ),has almost certainly given him a dictatorial image. But then, should Sachn Tendulkar lower his standards just to make others feel like they are overshadowed by him ? 5) Above all,he is a man with a clear vision and sincere affection for Goa and the ONLY sensible explanation I can see for anyone other than Mr Manohar Parrikar being CM of Goa today is that the politicians and the power lobbies behind them are concerned that he will curb uncontrolled corruption. LETS DISCUSS,please ! -Anamika Naik
