[Gulf Goans] Can Parrikar save the BJP? - Sanjay Banerjee in The Times of India

[Goa's Pride, www.goa-world.com]

Can Parrikar save the BJP?

- By sanjay Banerjee TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2005 ]

































PANAJI, January 29, 2005: The decade of 1990 to 2000 is often described as the period of 'aya ram gaya ram' politicians in Goa when 13 chief ministers including Manohar Parrikar of the BJP were sworn in. But with Parrikar of the BJP staking claim in October 2000, government toppling appeared to have been a story of the past. 





He provided a stable government and also went in for a mid term poll by dissolving the house that led to a bitter legal battle with the opposition congress. His coming to power also coincided with the BJP led NDA government at the Centre and when the power shifted to the UPA government in the 2004 Lok Sabha poll, Mr Parrikar's continuance was always an issue of speculation in the coastal state. The IIT alumni, Mr Parrikar though has always maintained he was ready to go home and was not there to rule forever. 
 His style of functioning in which he thoroughly debilitated the opposition congress finally reached a flashpoint in the May 2002 assembly poll when the BJP got 17 and the Congress 16 seats. However, the regional parties - MGP and UGDP and one independent - helped him to come to power. Thereafter, there were splits in the regional parties in which one from the MGP and one from the UGDP initially joined the BJP, raising its tally to 19. The 40-member Goa assembly requires a majic figure of 21 for a political formation to claim simple majority. Parrikar was forever trying to achieve the number to have a steady hand in governance. Luck came his way late last year when Isidore Fernandes of the congress resigned from the assembly and won a by election on a BJP ticket. The number increased to 20 but he was still short of one. Then only just two days ago (on Thursday) Francisco X (Micky) Pacheco joined his UGDP(Secular) Micky group with the BJP but little did Parrikar know that he would be one among the four who would resign from the assembly and play the same game that Isidore had done with the congress and helped the BJP. In the quicksand of Goa politics the story of political desertions has once again resurfaced in the new millenium. Isidore Fernandes and Micky Pacheco along with Atansasio Monserrate and Pandurang Madkaikar (he was a minister) resigned from the house on Saturday toppling the applecart of the Parrikar government. Atanasio, popularly
 called `Babush' was elected on UGDP and Madkaikar on MGP tickets in the last elections. Both split from the parent party and decided to join the BJP, swelling the party's strength until they repeated the stories of the earlier leaders who would switch sides at the drop of a hat.  There is one difference though: These politicians know how to circumvent the amended anti defection law. Rather resign from the house and seek the verdict than stay with the party and the leader that they are not comfortable with. Interestingly, in this small state where you win with some four to six thousand votes, even if one
 member extends support from outside as is the case of the regional MGP and one independent member who were ministers and withdrew support, keeping them good humour is politically crucial. 





* courtesy: www.timesofindia.com              
Forwarded by Gaspar Almeida, www.goa-world.com & Gulf-Goans e-Newsletter
www.yahoogroups.com/group/gulf-goans/    since 1994!
 
 
I saved this item so that one day it will be useful   - Gaspar Almeida
 
 
Poll-vault spices up Goan holidayby Shiv Kumar 
Goans take their politics seriously � along with their post-lunch siesta and their favourite peg of evening tipple.
Come election time, everyone with a nodding acquaintance with a politician doubles over as a pundit. And that means every second Goan since the tiny state has so many politicians. 40 MLAs, three MPs and 2000 members in 183 panchayats for a population of just 13 lakh spread over 3400 sq km mean that politics comes a close second behind tourism as Goa�s main employer! 
Politicians, serving and in between jobs, swarm the historic secretariat building by the placid Mandovi in scenic Panjim (or Ponjee in the local lingo � Panaji, the linguistic fusion, is still an orphan). Their excuse: �to get people�s work done�. Aspiring politicos hold day jobs as doctors, fishing boat owners and even motor cycle �pilots� � public transport unique to Goa. 
Many hit it lucky thanks to the turbulent nature of Goa�s politics where governments change with the seasons. And cause a gold rush by their example. So when present Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar claims his Bharatiya Janata Party has roped in one lakh members, no one bats an eyelid. 
Flashing one�s credentials as a journalist, newly para-dropped into the tourist state, is an invitation to partake from copious amount of juicy gossip at neighbourhood taverns. And take it from this old Goa hand, the stuff is fresh since it came directly to the purveyor from the politico�s cook or the driver! 
Goa�s famous balladeer, Remo Fernandes who hit the headlines with his Politicians Don�t Know How to Rock and Roll should have listened to the wise sages holding forth over the locally brewed truth serum before hitting his keyboards. A debonair former Chief Minister who uses his skill on the dance floor to score with the ladies and the 60-plus businesswoman-turned-politician who dumped her husband to party with a younger man are the stuff of serious debate. 
Even electioneering has the distinct Indo-Lusitanian flavour native to Goa. In India�s only state where prohibition is not officially imposed liquor flows during poll campaigns. Goa�s distillers and bottlers supply liberal amount of beer and harder spirits at cost price. 
Candidates even woo the electorate in style. At street corner meetings voters are provided with chairs to sit in and cold drinks are served while politicians deliver their spiel. More enterprising politicians organise tiatr, the local art form derived from the Maharashtrian tamasha jazzed up with Portuguese theatre focusing on current affairs. As hundreds wait for the denouement, the sponsoring politician comes in to give his message. 
In the Christian heartland of Salcette, where farmers rear prized bulls for dhirios the local variant of bullfighting, aspirants for a political career organise contests late into the night where betting runs into tens of thousands of rupees. After the Supreme Court banned the dhirio seven years ago, the sport has merely gone underground, say aficionados of the sport who claim to genuinely love the bovines. 
Other less sanguine sports also benefit as politicians loosen their war chests on poll-eve. Football and volleyball matches between villages are popular since the ties are short and the half-times flexible to accommodate sponsors� messages. Surprisingly, cricket is absent here. 
Unlike in other parts of the country, the bait spread before the people work in luring voters to the polling booths. Turnouts at elections tend to exceed 65 per cent across the state though old timers say it used to cross 70 per cent earlier. 
But then in India�s sunshine state where the fun never stops, voting is only a prelude to celebrations by the victor. That, however, is another story! (courtesy: Chandigarh - The Tribune)
 
PICTURES as archived on www.goa-world.com from Net Resources Online.




Thought for Today:"Don't trust the appearances, the bragging man can be a very poor and stupid fellow."Gulf Goans e-Newsletter yahoogroups.com/group/gulf-goans/ Moderator Gaspar Almeida /Presented by Uly Menezes www.goa-world.com/goa/ since 1994.  Thanks for the continued support of the www.goa-world.com/goa/ team.
 
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