Politics: More is not always ‘the merrier’

An eventful week in Goa indeed was the one that just went by, what with first, the strongman of Taleigao, Babush Monserrate joining the Congress. And, almost as if he was waiting to beat Babush to the post, the Prince of Sattari Vishwajeet Rane followed suit for which he had to voluntarily give up his membership of the legislative assembly but not its perks -- ministership.

Many in the media have interpreted this buttressing of numbers of the Congress as a boost for the stability of the Digambar Kamat-led government. One analysis said it is a move to give Goa a single party rule of the Congress and very soon, the Dhavlikar Brothers will be forced to do the same. Another analysis termed it Digubab's 'masterstroke'. Not one has given the other possibility - the developments triggering infighting, and consequently, instability - a chance.

But I do. And coincidentally, in today's edition of GT in the leader on the Edit page, the veteran Mario Cabral e Sa, shares my view.

In politics more is not always merrier. More so in the case of Goa, where on umpteen occasions in the past CMs have had to bite the dust soon after they engineered defections to buttress their strengths. It happened to Pratapsing Rane in the 1990s when a couple of months after he brought in Antonio Gauncar into the Congress fold Dr Willie, Narvekar and Shirodkar ganged up to dethrone him.

Ditto happened to Luizinho Faleiro in 1999-2000, who as CM then went on a party-eliminating spree. He first brought in Jose Philip and Suresh Parulekar from the UGDP, and followed it up with Ramakant Khalap and Prakash Velip from the MGP. The result? Sardinha, Narvekar, Shirodkar, Aleixo Sequeira and gang bolted to unleash a fall from which the once invincible Navelcar is yet to recover.

Parrikar too learnt this lesson the hard way. Facing an assault from Babush Monserrate, he instantly admitted into the BJP the now on-the-run Mickky who in less than 24 hours joined the five, including Digubab, that ended Parrikar's heady days in power, in early 2005.

So my hunch is, strength in numbers isn't going to be strength in the CM's seat for my friend Digubab. He is bound to be troubled by the demands of a growing number of mouths he has to feed in the Congress stable and you can count on the latest entrants to lead the charge, sooner rather than later. The only trumpcard is the insurmountable power of the High Command as long as the party rules Delhi, and Digubab will last only as long as Madam wants him to.

Why ‘bhakkam pedha’?

An ashen-expressioned chief minister Digambar Kamat and a grinning Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief Subhash Shirodkar provided the media two photo opportunities last week. And, on both occasions, they seemed keen to show the media and the aam aadmi how pedestrian the Congress realy is, by allowing Vishwajeet Rane and Babush Monserrate, who have walked all over the party in the past, back into the party fold.

But, keen observers of politics would have noticed something very interesting during both photo ops. Kamat and Shirodkar welcomed Babush and Vishwajeet with a 'bhakkam pedha'.

Why? Because 'bhakkam pedha' is a sweet made of flour, deep fried and then soaked in sugar syrup. Distinctly unhealthy, distinctly proletariat. It's one of those sweets which none of our high-blood pressure, high-sugar suffering politicians really like to have. It's less classy, more of an aam janta sweetmeat, cheap and in these cost cutting days can still sweeten the mouth without biting the wallet.

So why were Babush and Vishwajeet fed a 'bhakkam pedha' on their re-entry into the Congress? Because according to one Congressman, the party really does not know how to handle these two politically fidgety and volatile caricatures, once they've slip into the ranks. It was tough anyway to handle them when they were on the fringes. So, the Congress organizational bigwigs decided to mount a strategy called ‘Operation Slow-Sweet-Poisoning’ and the bhakkam pedhas were put into action. We have a feeling both Vishwajeet and Babush were tipped off by some members of the Goa Congress, which is traditionally known for its penchant for betrayals. They only nibbled a bit of the bhakkam pedha. Was it sweet enough? We dunno… maybe their blood sugar levels will tell.

Tailpiece

If there's one lesson Diggubab has learnt from the Mickky episode, it is that henceforth he will induct a minister, if and when he has to tweak his team, only after the candidate goes through a libido test.

Can't blame these men. What else can one expect with 39 men and just one member of the fairer sex long past her prime in a House of 40?

Cacophony: Does Diggu deserve it?

There are so many cacophonic voices here in Goa seeking to undermine, expose, defame and perhaps wanting to ultimately see the downfall of Digubab and his government. Even the lashing rains of the monsoon do not seem to be able to lower the decibles. In fact, the chorus is getting louder. The din is so shrill that I am begining to wonder: Has Digubab really been so bad a guy? Is his government the worst we've seen? Many more such questions are clogging my mind and the harder I think, the harder it gets to reach a definite 'yes' or a 'no' for an answer.

In the nearly two decades I've spent in this business of journalism, opportunity fell upon me to see from handshaking distance umpteen CMs and their governments perform, fail, suppress and opress -- in equal measure if not greater -- the people they otherwise ought to serve. None of them, faced the cacophony of dissent that Diggubab's faces today. Why, is what's puzzling me.

To grant it to Diggubab, at least he and his government lets civil society express itself, a quality his predecessor and his predecessor's predecessor, could well do with a measure of. The Monginis man Datta Naik and the good old doctor from Margao Francisco Colaco will vouch for it. Surely, none of the professionals who have take to the streets to the voice their concern over 'mega projects', etcectra, etcectra, have faced raids on their businesses from the Food and Drugs Administration.

Neither have tongues been tied, as was the case when hooliganism in the name of patriotism descended on Fontainhas, where street furniture and name plaques were mindlessly destroyed. So tongue-tied was everyone that all the hooligans went scot-free in the absence of any complaint lodged with the police. The local corporator, whose own house was a victim of the hooliganism, remained a mute spectator preferring instead to make deals in the dark alleys of politics and leaving it to the evergreen Aires Rodrigues to organise the public protest against the ugly incidents.

Media: a new lease?
The cloud over the media in the wake of the case of nexus between the police and the drug mafia has partly burst.
I am genuinely happy, that at least now after the complicity of the journos got reflected in an order of the Bombay High Court at Goa, the Goa Union of Journalists (GUJ) has woken up and demanded a CBI inquiry into the whole episode. Only hope Digubab gives in to the request so that the mystery over the identity of the journos involved is revealed and the dark clouds that cover even those journos with an honest bone are removed.
GUJ has also gone ahead and appointed an ethics-cum-disciplinary committee, in a bid to bring future transgressions by member-journos under scrutiny. I am flattered that the general body has given me the honour of being a member of this committee alongwith my senior colleagues Flaviano Dias (chairman) and Dr Bala Murali, the bureau chief of the United News of India. Hopefully, politicians, bureaucrats, cops and even the general public, who are at the receiving end of journos' unethical conduct will play their part and bring their complaints before this committee at the GUJ office located at Shramashakti Bhavan at EDC Patto Plazza. Let's give the fourth estate a chance to get transparent and clean up its act.

Double parking syndrome
Do not park with a vehicle on the sides' says one of the thumb rules for drivers. But this is exactly what everyone keeps doing, especially in the capital city leading to the traffic movement here getting worse than Margao's, despite its well planned parallel road system.
There couldn't be a worse nightmare than trying to drive your four-wheeler through 18th June Road.
So endemic is the 'double parking' malaise that road users are seemingly getting immune to it. On this road, at the Junta House-Fidalgo-SBI-Gujarat Lodge crossroads, traffic moves at a snail's pace. And the chief culprit is the RTO itself. Most of the time there are transport department jeeps or cars double-parked at the entrance of the Junta House.
Further down, people shopping at the avenue leave their drivers in cars parked at the door-step of the shop they want to get into. Some days ago I confronted a group of English tourists who had the driver of their cab park alongside a row of parked cars right in front of the 'Bombay Bazaar' outlet, leaving no room for other traffic to pass through. "Would you do this in the UK?" I asked the group. "We wouldn't be allowed to do it" shot back one from the group. All through this conversation, a lady constable, baton in hand, merely stood by like peice of ugly street furniture.
Can we have the traffic cops crack down on double parking in the city please. The RTO we know, will not.

Tail-peice
In this cat and mouse game, much like the Tom &; Jerry cartoon series where the latter mostly wins, the mouse has won this round.
Mickky actually walked into the office of Margao notary Joey Rodrigues, swore an affidavit and got it notarised, right under the nose of the police, or did he? Quite a few mouse holings in Margao for Mickky to vanish in I guess. After all, its not for nothing that Margoites are known as 'Undirs' just as Curtorkars are 'dogs' and those from Saligao foxes!