A lesson to be learnt from 'Pale' By-Elections.
After much said and done and after a colossal amount of money spend, both officially and unofficially, there is a lesson to be learnt for the conscious believer in the furtherance of democracy and democratic values vis a vis the BJP's rout in the Pale by-polls. The voting results of the Pale by-elections- 2008: Congress: 7867; BJP: 6333; SGF: 158; IND (Dr. Suresh Amonkar): 3682 ; IND (R. Rane): 351 It is a well known fact that Dr. Suresh Amonkar revolted with his Party (BJP) for not having been given the ticket in spite of his being a senior BJP member and ex-health minister in the BJP coalition government of yesteryears. The result clearly shows that the Congress has won merely because of the division of the BJP votes. Two things must be understood from this defeat of the BJP. One: That the BJP has inadvertently worked for its own defeat, and Two: That the Congress has had a lot of engineering to do with this result. But one thing that comes out clearly is that the BJP has flunked over its party-procedures in selecting its worthy candidate. And the attributable reason must lie at the foot of the autocratic and impulsive decision making process of its leaders, in this case, the right honourable Shri. Manohar Parrikar. As far as Goa Su-Raj is concerned, Goa has 'lost' in these Pale by-elections irrespective of whether Congress has won or the BJP has not. It does not make much of a difference, either way. Importantly, we are intrigued by the BJP's choice of a candidate having been made without the general consensus within the party. If such consensus was arrived at, then the BJP would have been elected hands down. In all probability which is most unlikely, we wonder if there might not be the intensions of the BJP's leadership itself to see its own defeat for some unknown to others future gains. If a party goes into the election mode, it cannot afford to send a signal of disunity within its rank and file. Dr. Amonkar, according to us, should have stepped aside to bring-in new generation leadership to the fore, if he was really committed to the BJP ideology, i.e. if one exists. Fielding of a candidate is the most important decision a party must make, without ruffling even a feather in its rank and file. If the party say so and so will be the candidate, that must be that and there should be no scope for any revolt. Any or all revolts must be prior to coming to that decision. In this test case, the BJP is shown in bad light for a national party. Such decisions must not be and cannot be imposed by the High or Low Commands without reaching a widest possible consensus. Once the decision is taken, it must be final and all and sundry must fall in line, swallowing their reservations, working united'ly for the 'WIN'. Therein comes the ' SET-PROCEDURES ' of any party to come to this decision without an iota of doubt left in the minds of the rank and file. It is tantamount to say that the leader of the 'Anti-Terrorist Squad' must show unwavering and committed mindset in advancing into the enemy territory if he believes in the success of the operation, irrespective of the loss of life, even his. Otherwise, it is best to avoid such advance and save the entire platoon. Talking of set-procedures, Goa Su-Raj has been harping on the same, proclaiming to the world that it wants to come-out to explain these to the general public so that they may know what is Goa Su-Raj all about. That fickle minds are talking philosophies and technicalities of how to run a successful political party with money and muscle power as its core engine, is altogether another matter. Suffice it to say that we ignore such ruminations by just ignoring them with 'they do not know what they are talking about'. We are proud that at Goa Su-Raj, we have managed to cast these 'set-procedures' into firmament , ' A MUST DO ', before we get into any mode : Before or After Elections, without which Goa Su-Raj would be just one more 'Road-Side Parties' wanting to try its luck for its share in political maneuverings which Goa cannot afford any more. The 'After Election ' mode has been demonstrated by this Party when it had its election/selection of the 'shadow cabinet' just after the conclusion of the 2002 Assembly Election where the Party had fielded 8 candidates, 4 in the North and 4 in the South. It was a test case and the procedures are set and sealed once and for all. Nothing ever can change those as long as Goa Su-Raj remains Goa Su-Raj. So what are the set-procedures of this Party 'Before Elections'??, if what happened to the BJP in Pale is not desirable?? To start with, this Party has declared that it will not get into the election mode (not field a single candidate) under the normal circumstances, if the Party has not instituted the CWCs [Constituency Working Committees]. We know that it is useless to fight elections seriously without 'grass-roots' organizations. So far what Goa Su-Raj was doing was the promotion of its objectives. This Party looks at the on-coming General Assembly Elections, whether they are held in 2012 or earlier, in utter seriousness, where it is mandatory that this party must field at least 25 to 30 candidates if it is going to send a positive signal to the people of Goa that it is, in all seriousness, ready to hold the helm of Goa's Governance to replace what ad-hoc'sm is going on since 1961. This Party shall not be bothered if none of the 25-30 candidates save their deposits, because this decision will be left to the people of Goa to make .... in short 'the Obama effect'. Now for the 'long-talked-about' set-procedures before elections. In a Constituency, the Party will nominate one Life-Members in every Village of a Constituency as its VR [Village Representative], a post that makes a member part and parcel of the 'General Body' of the Party. Once all the nominations are made, the Party oversees the election within the VRs to elect its President and its Secretary. The President elect is the candidate of the Party for the next election or by-election as the case may be. The Secretary is the substitute. No borrowing or planting outside person into the constituency as the Party's candidate. If the President of the CWC gets elected to be the MLA, his place as the CWC president is taken over by another person [no dual posts]. Therefore, the next candidate of this constituency for all practical purposes is the new president of the CWC. [No Second Term policy of the Party is enforced]. Now if the CWC or the Constituents feel that the MLA is to be given the 'second term', the incumbent president of the CWC must agree. If s/he does not agree, the case is rested. The MLA has no other alternative but to step aside to make way but also chip-in his best efforts to see the candidate elected. This is sealed thro' the Affidavit s/he will be signing with the Party prior to the ticket being given to him/her in the first place. We would like challenges to this above system of this Party from all qualified fronts to prove us wrong and to tell us that a situation just like the BJP's in Pale will arise out of this procedure. We shall be most happy to concede. Floriano Lobo General Secretary/Spokesperson, Goa Su-Raj Party. -------------------------------------------------------------- ---Wanted for Goa--- honest ' fighters ' NOT honest ' hypocrites ' Contact: goasuraj (The Recruiting Agents) 9890470896 www.goasu-raj.org
