----------------------------------------- ON THE PROWL : BY TOMCAT Herald 15 June 2008 [The column written by Ashwin Tombat] -----------------------------------------
It's a Sunday, and Tomcat is back, completely out of whack, from yet another week of nights out on the prowl. It was a week in which Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat pulled yet another rabbit out of his hat. Digu-bab, in one stroke, wiped out the spectre of SEZs, by the simple executive action of cancelling their land allotments. It was also a week in which, for the very first time in his long and illustrious maritime career, Anil Salgaocar, Goa's wrecker-in-chief of ships, actually salvaged and towed away one of his floating disasters that was threatened to become a permanent attraction on Caranzalem beach. All Tomcat can say is 'third time lucky' for Goa. The earlier two ships just continued to lay where they were grounded. Why did the Goa's admiral of the grounded fleet get it right this time? Read on.... It was a week in which we all saw a completely new side to Mickky Pacheco. Now, Tomcat's going to have to re-christen him Mighty Mouse. For, the way he 'ministered' to his Captain of Ports, the man snapped into action and remained virtually in perpetual motion till the 'Andheri Nagri' was gone from the Caranzalem shore and the beach was no more an 'area of darkness'. If that's what Mickky's going to do each time, then this Cat is all for the mouse. He can play, even when I'm not away. The week also saw a cold war between Mickky Pacheco and Vishwajit Rane break out. You may recall a certain 'move' that was 'touted' to overthrow the government. Only, it was 'outed' when Vishwajit Rane informed Herald from France, where he was holidaying, that he had no part in it. Then, on his return, he firmly 'grouted' the ministry's stability by saying that his 'group of seven' was firmly behind Digubab's government, and was committed to it for the next five years. That, it seems, is what 'routed' any rebellion. And that is when Mickky 'bad-mouthed' his erstwhile buddy, saying he had 'no right to speak on behalf of a party that had its own command structure both at state and central level'. Wow! That last statement 'hit-out-ed' Vishwajit so hard, that he had notin' to say. Only, what seems to be totally 'out' in this exchange, is their comradeship. As they say, all good (and bad) things must come to an end.... Last, but by no means least, it was a week in which the editor of Herald got a legal notice from, guess who, none other than the alter-ego major domo, spokesperson-at-large and minister-in-absentia of the mighty Mickky Pacheco that Tomcat's been writing about these last two weeks. But, it seems, Lyndon Monteiro has no objection to being called any of those names. Rather, he is incensed that Tomcat obliquely suggested he was in some way connected to a certain rumour about an apocryphal rebellion against the Digambar Kamat government. Says Lyndon or, rather, his lawyer, that Tomcat's little tale has 'tarnished' his image and caused 'great damage' and 'irreparable loss' to his 'reputation'. (What was that last bit all about?) He also says Tomcat's two bits has 'affected' his 'political image' to a 'great extent'. Wow! Tomcat didn't know a few words could accomplish all that. And in just a week? Maybe Lyndon actually doesn't deserve all those fine titles. If he can turn from hero to zero because of a rumour about a rumour, then his rivals -- who he alleges are responsible for Tomcat's writing -- won't even have to huff and puff to blow him down. Now now Lyndon, my lad. Take heart. All is not lost. Take a long look at what you're up against, it's only a Cat. And if a little kitty can do all that to you, how are you going to make your way up the shaky ladders of the big, bad world of politics...? DIGU'S DHAMAKA You've got to hand it to Chief Minister Digambar Kamat. Just when it seems that everything is going wrong for him, he comes up with a masterstroke that completely turns the tables. Whether it is political revolts or social unrest, he has the knack to come out on top even when it seems the sky is falling on his head. And this week, Digu-bab did it again! One innocuous Friday afternoon, just as all good government servants were packing up their bags for the weekend ahead, he dropped a bombshell by getting the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to cancel all the land allotments it had made to SEZs in the state. Just like that.... Tomcat doesn't know if anybody noticed, but what Digu actually did was to completely bypass his own cabinet, by making it an executive order of an 'autonomous' government corporation, rather than a government decision. Now that's tactics and strategy for you. The ministers who supported the SEZs are all at sea; they might as well be on Anil Salgaocar's 'Andheri Nagari' -- now on its way to distant Jaigad -- for all they can do about this decision. And, which one of them is going to dare to challenge it in the next cabinet meeting and risk the wrath of the people? SEASIDE SAGA The one question everyone is asking, is what made Sanvordem independent MLA and mining magnate Anil Salgaocar, the undisputed Shahenshah of Shipwrecks, drag away his 'Andheri Nagri' and let the sun shine once more on the Caranzalem shore? There's lots of theories, but none of them is correct. The one -- and only -- language that Anil-bab seems to understand is dollars and cents, rupees and paise. If he left his earlier two ships to rot, it was probably because they were floating shipwrecks long before they actually hit the sands. And the reason this one wasn't, is because it's a new ship, in fairly good condition, and it had value. And, if he hadn't acted pronto, the state government would have moved to seize it. With the ore business being as good as it is, that would have meant lots of dollars and rupees lost in the muddy waters of the Miramar bay. Good politics, they say, starts with good economics. Now you know why the man is a two-term MLA. He knows exactly which side his bread is buttered, and which ship deserves to be scuttled. THE BANE OF BHAILE Salcete strong-man Churchill Alemao saw his life's ambition come true last month, when he cut his birthday cake in Winston Churchill's room in the House of Commons, in London. A raven from the Tower of London tells Tomcat that a group of Goans in London had organised a Tiatr in Swindon in honour of Churchill's visit. It got off to a great start, but sometime during the tiatr, a commotion broke out, as some people got into a fight over a seat which, apparently, was wrongly allocated to someone else. Does controversy follow Churchill wherever he goes? Not this time. He had nothing to do with this. It turns out that Goans in Swindon are more or less equally divided into two groups -- people from Siridao and people from Goa Velha. And, the two being neighbouring villages, they don't get along. The bickering, Tomcat hears, can often get pretty intense. But, this raven told me, it's not only Goans in Goa who are facing a problem because of migrants. It's Goans in Swindon too. Since they're not too educated and their knowledge of English is mostly functional, most Goans in Swindon work in factories packing sandwiches, or in cold storages. The local economy centres round the packaging industry. At one time, it seems, Swindon was known as a mini-Goa. But now, with the arrival of thousands of Polish immigrants in the UK, it seems Swindon's Goans are losing jobs to them. Poles, it seems, work harder and are very supportive of each other, unlike Goans, as the above incident demonstrates. Now does that sound familiar or does that sound familiar? GPA & GBA On Monday, there's a meeting at Panjim's Mandovi Hotel. It's called the Goa People's Assembly. And it's going to discuss -- what else -- mega projects, the very flavour of the season. Well, the first thing that seems a little out of place is the venue. Since when did the city's finest hotel become the place to knit together a people's assembly? It turns out that while the meeting has been convened by the Peaceful Society, the venue (and, presumably, the refreshments) is being paid for by one Rajan Parrikar, who styles himself as a lone-ranger crusader for a green Goa, allied to no group, but wedded to the cause. I'm sure you must have noticed the similarity in last names with a certain Leader of the Opposition. But, let Tomcat hasten to assure you, they're not brothers, or even cousins. They just happen to share a last name. But matters don't end there.... Though he does say he's an individual, Mr Parrikar, (R, not M) has the unqualified support of a group of non-resident Goans who think the solution to Goa's problems is to once more make Parrikar (M, not R) the chief minister. The second, and more ominous, similarity is the acronym of this august assembly. GPA sounds uncannily like GBA, or the Goa Bachao Abhiyan, the group that saved Goa from being concretised by the Regional Plan 2011. Why make the one sound like the other...? Just what is going on? Could it just be that this has a little something to do with the BJP, the party lead by Parrikar (M, not R) making a recent announcement that it was going to set up 500 NGOs in Goa? A final flick of the tail: Now that Digambar Kamat has been chief minister for a year, he's set a new record. He is officially South Goa's longest-serving chief minister ever. Churchill Alemao lasted 17 days. Dr Luis Proto Barbosa just over eight months. Luizinho Faleiro couldn't make it to a half-year and Francisco Sardinha made 11 months. Before we extend the customary congratulations, a word of caution to Manohar Parrikar. He'd better topple this government soon, otherwise he might just find himself in a position to challenge Dr Jack Sequeira's record for time spent as the Leader of the Opposition! Until next week, meeeoow!
