Complacent over its success in poaching BJP MLA Rajesh Patnekar, the Congress
seems oblivious to the covert deals between Manohar Parrikar and the Alemaos to
undermine the Congress in South Goa.
HISTORY IS all set to repeat itself. It may be recalled that about a decade ago
Manohar Parrikar formed the first BJP government in the state of Goa after
first encouraging Francisco Sardinha to stage a revolt against the Luizinho
Faleiro-led Congress government and subsequently toppling the Sardinha
government to take over the kodel of the chief minister himself. Which is
precisely what Manohar Parrikar is planning to do this time with Churchill
Alemao and Babush Monserrate as his accomplices. The photograph which appeared
on the front page of the Gomantak Times’ Weekender with Parrikar seated in the
front seat of his official car with Churchill Alemao doing the backseat driving
is symbolic of the shape of things to come after the forthcoming assembly
elections in Goa or even as early as in October when the last assembly session
of the current legislature is scheduled.
The BJP has been cold shouldered by the MGP with which it was trying to build
up an alliance to take on the Congress in the forthcoming elections to the
Legislative Assembly of Goa, which is expected to be held as early as January
or February 2012. The Bharatiya Janata Party and Manohar Parrikar are painfully
aware that they cannot hope to return to power in Goa without the minority
community vote. The minority Catholic community may now account for only a
little less than 30% of the total population. But the minority community
virtually controls Salcete and even parts of North Goa like the Calangute
constituency, the St Cruz constituency and the Agassaim constituency and can be
a game changer in the Saligao and Taleigao. The BJP high command in the state
is already on record that it is planning to allot a number of seats in the
forthcoming assembly elections to members of the minority community.
SECRET TALKS
FOR quite some time now, Manohar Parrikar has been holding secret talks with
Churchill Alemao. Parrikar has already struck a deal with Babush Monserrate. It
is consequent to the deal between Babush Monserrate and Manohar Parrikar that
the MLA from Taleigao decided not to contest the Panaji assembly seat and leave
it to the leader of the opposition Manohar Parrikar. Part of the deal is that
the BJP will not put up a candidate for the St Cruz assembly constituency seat
or put up a weak candidate to facilitate the victory of Babush Monserrate, who
has decided to lock horns with Victoria Fernandes and her son Rudolf Fernandes.
Ribander, which now forms part of the St Cruz assembly constituency, is a BJP
stronghold. In the past also, the BJP has extended support to Babush, notably
in the last general elections when it backed Jennifer Monserrate in return for
Babush’s support to Parrikar in the Panaji assembly seat.
For a long time, the BJP has been looking for a strategic partner in South Goa
where its base is very weak. Initially, the BJP even considered aligning with
Mickky Pacheco, the former tourism minister who has now decided to contest from
the new assembly constituency, Nuvem. It was then decided that Mickky Pacheco
was not the most reliable of allies and Manohar Parrikar started sending
feelers to Churchill Alemao. Churchill was not particularly enthusiastic about
any alliance with the BJP till the Congress High Command refused to give him
any categorical assurance that it would offer the Congress ticket for the
Benaulim seat to his daughter and alleged collection agent Valanka. The last
straw was when Valanka was disqualified from contesting the elections for the
post of the president of the Youth Congress. With Luizinho Faleiro deciding to
return to state politics and staking a claim for the Congress ticket for the
Navelim constituency, which he has been representing for six
consecutive terms, till he was defeated in the last general elections by
Churchill Alemao with the help of the BJP, Churchill is anxious to quit the
Congress.
WRITING ON WALL
Churchill, for all his bluff and bluster and his professed loyalty to the
Congress High Command or more specifically the Congress President Sonia Gandhi,
has read the writing on the wall. The disqualification of Valanka for
contesting the presidency of the Youth Congress, which was subsequently won by
Pratima Coutinho, was a clear indication that the romance between the Congress
High Command and the Alemaos is over. Churchill is aware that forget about the
Congress High Command giving a ticket to Valanka to contest the Benaulim
assembly seat, the probability is that if Luizinho Faleiro, currently General
Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in charge of the North East,
stakes his claim for the Congress ticket for the Navelim constituency, the
probability is that Churchill will be sacrificed.
STAKING CLAIM
THE Alemao parivar, which has been staking a claim not just for two tickets for
Churchill Alemao from the Navelim assembly constituency and for Joaquim Alemao
from the Cuncolim assembly constituency but for four tickets for Valanka from
Benaulim and Yuri Alemao from Sanguem, knows that the Congress is extremely
unlikely to accommodate the entire Alemao parivar. Churchill has already
decided that he and the rest of the Alemao parivar will contest the election on
the ticket of a party other than the Congress in the forthcoming Assembly
elections. The chances of Churchill Alemao being able to contest the assembly
elections once again on the ticket of the Save Goa Front (SGF) seems bleak
because of the legal complications. Churchill is on record before the Speaker
of the Legislative Assembly of Goa that the Save Goa Front, which became a
giant killer in the last assembly elections causing the defeat of two Congress
stalwarts Luizinho Faleiro and Francisco Sardinha, has been merge
d with the Congress party.
But the Election Commission has refused to recognise the merger of the
legislative wing of the Save Goa Front with the Congress as the SGF
organisational wing did not merge with the Congress. So much so, as far as the
Election Commission is concerned, the SGF continues to exist as a recognised
regional party in the state despite Churchill Alemao’s claim that the party has
merged with the SGF. The situation is further complicated by the fact that
there is a High Court stay on the claim of Anton Gaonkar that he is the
president of the SGF. While the SGF continues to enjoy recognition by the
Election Commission as a regional party in Goa, it has no office bearers with
whom Churchill can negotiate a homecoming. And if Churchill returns to the Save
Goa Front before the assembly elections, he is likely to be disqualified
because by virtue of the merger of the legislative wing of the SGF with the
Congress party, the SGF does not exist and Churchill Alemao and Reginald
Lourenco are n
ow members of the Congress party.
In fact, consequent to the Election Commission declaring that the Save Goa
Front continued to exist as a recognised regional party, a fresh petition for
the disqualification of Churchill Alemao and Reginald Lourenco is now pendin g
before the speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Pratapsingh Rane. The chances
of Churchill Alemao contesting on the United Goans Democratic Party ticket
seems unlikely because of his differences with Analecto Veigas. In any case,
since the UGDP has been struck off the list of recognised regional parties
neither Churchill nor Babush are likely to be keen on contesting on a UGDP
ticket. This is primarily because there is no guarantee that the UGDP will
retain its two leaves symbol, which has great significance for the minority
community because it was the symbol of the anti-merger group during the Opinion
Poll.
STRATEGIC TIES
IT suits both Manohar Parrikar and Churchill Alemao to enter into a strategic
alliance for the forthcoming assembly elections. As far as the BJP is
concerned, it will achieve a strong presence in the South. Moreover, if all the
four Alemaos and Reginald Lourenco, who has at least for now decided to align
with the Alemaos, win in the constituencies that they are staking a claim to,
the BJP will be assured of five seats in the Legislative Assembly. This will
offset any reverses that the BJP may suffer in North Goa because of the growing
strength and influence of Vishwajit Rane, who is targeting not only the three
seats in the Sattari taluka, but also the seats in the Bicholim and Sanguem
talukas. If along with Churchill Alemao, the BJP also gets Babush Monserrate on
board it will have the additional opportunity of securing at least the two
seats contested by Jennifer Monserrate from the Taleigao assembly constituency
and that of Babush Monserrate from the St Cruz assembly const
ituency. The BJP may also secure the support of Pandurang Madkaikar in the
Cumburjua assembly constituency, Francis Silveira in the St Andre assembly
constituency, Agnelo Fernandes in the Calangute assembly constituency and
Isidore Fernandes for the single assembly seat in the Canacona taluka.
Churchill and Babush have always been opportunists. They have no allegiance to
any political party leave, alone to the voters of the constituencies that they
have been representing in the Legislative Assembly of Goa. Both Babush and
Churchill have turned very antagonistic towards Chief Minister Digamber Kamat
and the president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, Subhash Shirodkar. In
fact, Churchill Alemao and Babush Monserrate will have no compunctions about
even joining the Bharatiya Janata Party if they are guaranteed the most
lucrative portfolios if the BJP forms a government in the state after the
forthcoming assembly elections. Even if they do not join the BJP, it is certain
t
hat it is they who will be doing the backseat driving irrespective of which
party comes to power. The Congress, because of its own compunctions, does not
seem to be interested in either Churchill Alemao or Babush Monserrate. Manohar
Parrikar, on his part, like his former mentor and guru Pramod Mahajan, does not
bother about the colour of his allies as long as they will help him regain the
kodel of the chief minister of the state of Goa. Let us not forget that it was
the so called principled Manohar Parrikar who encouraged large scale defections
from the Congress party to the extent that even Ravi Naik and Ramakant Khalap
had joined the BJP in the run up to the 2001 elections. And Manohar Parrikar,
like Chanakya, subscribes to the maxim that there cannot be any permanent
friends or enemies in politics. And that morality is not a luxury that
politicians can afford to subscribe to. So if the Congress in Goa, which has a
lot of sympathy as the only " secular party" does not get
its act together, I have no doubt in my mind that the BJP will win the next
assembly elections hanging on to the coat tails of Churchill Alemao and Babush
Monserrate.
Babush’s defection profile GO Correspondent
ATANASIO alias Babush Monserrate made his debut in the political arena in the
2002 assembly election. He contested on the United Goans Democratic Party
ticket and won against the Congress candidate Somnath Zuwarkar. Manohar
Parrikar, who formed the coalition government consisting of BJP-MGP-UGDP,
inducted Monserrate as the town and country planning minister. Subsequently
falling for Parrikar’s bait, he defected from UGDP and formally joined BJP.
When the then chief minister, Parrikar, stripped him of the Town and Country
Planning portfolio due to numerous complaints from builders, he was
instrumental in toppling the BJP-led government. He subsequently joined the
Congress and contested bye-election on Congress ticket. Was inducted in the
Rane-led government and retained the town and country planning portfolio. He
initially tried to bring an ordinance which was objected to and then tried to
push the draconian Regional Plan 2011, which was widely protested by Goans and
the GBA.
During the 2007 general elections, he was given a Congress ticket but since
nomination of his wife Jennifer Monserrate was rejected, he ditched the
Congress at the eleventh hour, withdrew his Congress nomination and filed his
nomination on the UGDP ticket. He did not find a place in the cabinet in the
Digmabar Kamat led government. During the same time, criminal cases were
registered against him for assault on Youth Congress workers who tried to
protest his opposition to the IT Habitat at Dona Paula at his residence.
Thereafter, he led a mob that stoned Panaji police station and was brutally
beaten by the police. Subsequently, he joined the Congress and was inducted as
education minister, a portfolio he is currently holding.
Churchill’s defection profile GO Correspondent
The Congress is seen as the ocean of a political party, which allows anybody
into its fold. The prerequisite to join is ‘winnability’. Even if the
individual has a criminal background. This is the reason why politicians
affiliated to the party lack discipline. It’s safe to say that a majority of
the politicians affiliated to the Congress are not true Congressmen, but only
traitors and turncoats. Let us take the example of so called strong man of
Varca, Churchill Alemao. This Congressman’s antecedents are shady beyond doubt.
He entered politics and was first elected to the first state Assembly in 1989
on the Congress ticket. Few months later, on March 27, 1990, he split the
Congress to form the Progressive Democratic Front government in coalition with
the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. He created history by becoming the first
Catholic chief minister of Goa, albeit for only 19 days as he resigned to pave
way for Dr Luis Proto Barbosa to take over. Their government collapsed in
December and he completed the rest of the term as an MLA. During this period,
he and his family members were arrested under the Conservation of Foreign
Exchange and Prevention Of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) and spent time
in Goa central jail at Aguada. He was also charged with dishonouring the
national flag when he removed the flag from the official government vehicle and
stamped on it. During the 1994 elections, Churchill Alemao was elected to the
Legislative Assembly as the UGDP candidate and remained an MLA till 1996 when
he contested the parliamentary election and defeated the Congress candidate to
the Lok Sabha, Eduardo Faleiro. At the bye-elections held in 1996, he
introduced his brother Joaquim Alemao to politics. Joaquim contested in
Benaulim constituency on the UGDP candidate and emerged victorious, again
defeating a Congress candidate. Towards the end of 1998, when the Luizinho
Faleiro-led Congress government was tottering, Joaquim was admitted in the Cong
ress and was rewarded by being inducted as the tourism and sports minister. A
year later at the 1999 elections, Churchill Alemao was again admitted in the
Congress and nominated as the Congress candidate and he won from this
constituency and was rewarded with the industries and tourism ministries in the
Congress government. In 2002, Francisco Xavier alias Micky Pacheco, the UGDP
candidate, defeated Churchill Alemao thereby ending his reign in Benaulim
constituency. Thereafter, the Congress party rehabilitated Churchill Alemao by
nominating him to the Lok Sabha. However when 2007 assembly elections were
announced, he trained his guns at his party and termed Congress as communal and
corrupt. He resigned from the Congress party and contested on the Save Goa
Front ticket. He defeated two Congress heavyweights, Luizinho Faleiro and
Francisco Sardinha, thereby lowering the strength of the Congress party in the
40-member Goa Assembly. It was amply clear in 2007 that he was in cahoo
ts with the BJP as they did not field any candidate against him in the Navelim
assembly constituency as the saffron party’s aim was to defeat Luizinho
Faleiro. Thereafter, two months after the Congress government came to power, he
was instrumental in attempting to topple the Digambar Kamat-led government.
However in the failed coup Churchill Alemao managed to get his pound of flesh
by merging his fledgling outfit into Congress and get a ‘prime’ ministerial
berth as PWD minister, which has now become his milch cow.
