Patriotism was guiding force for Bhau to run Goa: Shashikala Written by RAMNATH N PAI RAIKAR Friday, 12 March 2010 00:34
PANAJI: The former chief minister, Ms Shashikala Kakodkar, remembering her legendary father, late Bhausaheb alias D B Bandodkar on the eve of the commencement of his birth centenary celebrations said that patriotism was the guiding force for Bhau to run Goa.
“Bhau was never a politician by choice, but the situation that prevailed during the post-Liberation period, including unanimous decision of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party leaders, forced him to head the state administration,” she recalled, observing that even though her father was not a statesman, he stood by his decisions and ensured that they were implemented in true spirit, for the benefit of the masses. “Two of his radical decisions were opening Marathi medium schools in nook and corner of Goa, and bringing land reforms in the region,” Ms Kakodkar stated, pointing out that Bhau was totally unimpressed with the British system of education, which was adopted by the independent India, and was of the opinion that basic education in Marathi and Konkani as well as Urdu language, if the students existed, would not only link the children to their culture and tradition but also build their national character.
“Furthermore, my father was well aware of the feudal system prevalent in Goa and felt that the poor and downtrodden people, both Hindus and Christians, should be exposed to education as its absence leads to illiteracy, and illiteracy breeds poverty,” she added. Speaking further, Ms Kakodkar said, “Bhau was of the firm opinion that any amount of money as well as strong will to do something good for the benefit of society were just not enough, and a person with such intentions needed to have power at his disposal.” And he used power just for that purpose, she noted.
Stating that Bhau was a visionary who envisaged Goa University and started post-graduation centre, thought of Kala Academy complex and built a Kala Academy theatre in the heart of the city, chalked out industrial future for Goa and developed industrial estates as well as invited large industries like MRF, Ciba Geigy and Zuari Agro Chemicals to the region, and undertook vigorous development of infrastructure for the Union Territory, Ms Kakodkar maintained, “In fact, it goes to the credit of Bhau that all big industries placed their faith in him and opened their units in Goa.”
“Many versions as regards Opinion Poll are in existence, but people hardly know the reality behind Bhau’s support for merger of Goa in Maharashtra,” Ms Kakodkar said, mentioning that Bhau genuinely believed in merger but once the public verdict went against it, Bhau accepted the same gracefully and tried to detach himself from politics. “However, so great was his influence on the Goan people that he was elected to power immediately after the Opinion Poll, thus reaffirming their trust in him,” she remembered.
When asked as to whether her illustrious father wanted to groom her as his political successor, the way Pt Jawaharlal Nehru did for Indira Gandhi, Ms Kakodkar said that her father never wanted her to join politics. “However, he wanted me to be very much aware of the world of politics and provided me with lot of books pertaining to great leaders around the world,” Ms Kakodkar informed, recollecting that she also helped her father in receiving towering personalities from various fields, at their residence. “In fact, my mother, a traditional Hindu lady, rarely came out to receive the official guests, but I remember a close associate of Lord Mountbatten writing to my father that he was overwhelmed with the welcome accorded to him by Bhau and my mother, during his visit to our house,” Ms Kakodkar said.
“I had been keenly participating in the election campaigns of the MGP and during the 1967 assembly polls, the MGP supporters from Ponda suggested that I should contest the election, which not only took me by surprise but also made me tell them that Bhau would shrug off the idea,” Ms Kakodkar revealed. “When Bhau came to know about this suggestion presented to him in the form of a signed memorandum, he chose to remain absent at the central committee meeting of the MGP and allowed the members to take related decision without any pressure,” she informed, “And that’s how I went to contest the assembly polls.”
Recalling the grim day of Bhau’s demise, Ms Kakodkar said that succeeding Bhau as the chief minister of the Union Territory was the last thing in her mind. “All of us were overtaken by grief and in no way such a thought could come to my mind,” she maintained, recollecting that the then governor S K Bannerji was in Daman, while her brother, Siddharth was in Mumbai, all set to board a plane to America.
“However, as I came to know later, the MGP in one voice decided on me as the next chief minister of Goa, Daman and Diu, and on the insistence of the chief secretary that if a new chief minister is not inducted within 24 hours, there could be Constitutional crisis, I turned to my mother for her advice,” she said, “and after getting a nod from her, I decided to take oath as the chief minister at a swearing-in ceremony that was held at almost midnight, exactly 24 hours after my father had passed away.”
“During my entire career as the chief minister, it was Bhau’s style of functioning, the guidelines he had set for administering the region and the motto of his regime that poor and downtrodden should be the real beneficiaries of power, that directed me every moment,” she concluded.
http://www.navhindtimes.in/news/goa-news/9668-patriotism-was-guiding-force-for-bhau-to-run-goa-shashikala
