AAM AADMI CHIEF MINISTER HAS COME TO STAY By Shanti Maria Fonseca
June 7, 2008. Gomantak Times What we have seen in the last one year on the political front is disturbing to a person with a conscience, and disgraceful to a person with self-respect. The behaviour of our elected representatives in Goa in the last one year has been disgusting. Political equations and loyalties kept changing. Friends become foes and foes become friends. No sensible mind can understand the logic behind these political somersaults. In the midst of all this rough and uncertain weather, the present government headed by Kamat completes a year today. Digambar Kamat, who engineered the downfall of the BJP government in 2005 and then joined the Congress, was sworn in as the 19th Chief Minister of Goa. He hails from the influential Saraswat Brahmin community and is the second chief minister from the community, after Parrikar. The decision to nominate Kamat as chief minister came as a surprise to many. Digambar Kamat who completed 54 this year on International Women's Day is a real estate developer, who represents the urban population of the Margao constituency. He has been a legislator since 1994. Kamat took over from Rane who served as a chief minister for five terms and dominated politics here for the entire decade of the 1980s. Goa's new Congress chief minister began his political career as a member of the Congress who later left to join the BJP. Till a few years ago, he was the second-most powerful man in the Manohar Parrikar-led BJP government in Goa. Goa is a state that has seen politicians repeatedly change sides. Digambar Kamat is a long-term senior politician in the state, having headed several ministries where he has performed exceptionally well. He created a record when he was the longest serving power minister in the country. He was also responsible for turning the power department which had accrued heavy losses into a profit-making organisation. A senior politician accepted across caste, religion and community barriers, Kamat's strengths are his humility, accessibility, an accommodating nature, openness to criticism, and a firm belief in resolving issues through dialogue and discussion and his discipline. It is because of qualities such as these, that all those who have been scheming to topple his government have met their Waterloo. He calls his government that of the "Aam Aadmi", and is often heard saying that "People know I mean business." A decade ago, Kamat was presented the COSAMB award for enriching human life and outstanding performance and his contribution to agricultural marketing in the state and the country, by the National Council of State Agricultural Marketing Boards, New Delhi. The man who is firmly saddled in his chair says he is there because he never really worries about his chair on which he rarely sits. He is out and working most of the time, with a commitment and dedication to the commonman. We cannot forget that in the history of this State, no government has ever survived a serious toppling bid. The Kamat government has survived several such treacherous toppling bids, and that too one of them being within a few days of his installation as the chief minister. Under the leadership of the present CM, every bid to topple the present government has only left the traitors bowled for a six, and they have come back on bended knee. Despite several agitations led by people, the Digambar Kamat government stands on a firm footing. The Chief Minister is clear that all controversies -- which include the regional plan, SEZs, IT parks, casinos, etc -- are problems left unresolved by previous governments and inherited by him. The CM has been clear right from Day One of holding the reigns that projects which are not desired by people for whom it is meant should not be implemented. It is his firm belief that people have a right to agitate and that it is his duty to hear the voice of all stakeholders. The present government headed by Kamat is worried about the present situation where the people of Goa have started opposing every project and proposal placed before them. Investments have almost come to a standstill in this state. Some industries have already threatened and started their preparations for moving out of the state. It has been the fervent endeavour of the Digambar government to keep the negatives at the minimum and allow development to take some form and shape in this tiny state of Goa. The miserable state of development and the rising unemployment rate is something we are all familiar with. The CM has thrown the ball in the "people's court". That there is a section among the Goan population that lives in poverty and without the basic amenities required for a decent living is something that this CM is well aware of. According to him, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the fruits of growth reach the poor strata of society. We shall have to wait and watch patiently to see when this will happen. Presently, the rich are getting richer. It is time for Goans to stop crying about a Goa that is being lost to the migrant and outsider from within the country and outside the country. It is time for activists who claim to be apolitical to turn political and slip into the election process which only a brave person can do. The political stage need performers, not advisors. The Goan voter has long since become insensitive. Elections and bye-elections have become an opportunity for the commonman to earn more money. Some months ago, a so-called reputable politician was quoted by a local English daily as stating that he was offered Rs 20 crore to switch over to the other side. This is proof that large amounts of money are circulated in Goan politics. Goan politics keeps getting murkier by the day. Who is going to bell the cat? The pop singer, the fashion designer, the doctor, the historian, the architect, the environmentalist, or the infinite number of social activists that Goa has produced overnight?