Former Chief Minister and now Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, Mr. Pratapsingh Rane has recently confirmed two home truths every Goan knows. That illegal mining is flourishing with the blessings of the politicians and that one cannot get a government job without shelling out big bucks.
Pratapsingh Rane, a very astute politician, has always been able to grab a Chair as a compromise candidate. During his last term as Chief Minister he tried to impose the now revoked Regional Plan 2011 together with his proposal for six SEZs in Goa. Having completed 70, Mr. Pratapsingh Rane should have gracefully retired from politics but is still eyeing the Chief Minister’s chair. The Ranes have made no sacrifices. On the contrary they have shrewdly manoeuvred their way around the political game board. At the last assembly elections Vishwajit Rane, in order to circumvent the restriction on one ticket per family, had fielded his coconut plucker as Congress candidate in Valpoi, only to file his nomination as an Independent candidate at the last minute. Over the last 37 years the Pratapsingh Rane household has had the best of times. Power has never eluded them. From Bal Bhavan to Kala Academy they never lost grip of it all. Even as Leader of Opposition, Pratapsingh Rane managed to garner for his son the plum post as Chairman of Goa Tourism Development Corporation, a position he blatantly misused and was ordered by the Bombay High Court to compensate the Corporation for the financial burden he had inflicted. Aires Rodrigues Ribandar
