Ravi in attack mode

Home Minister Ravi Naik, battered and bruised by the attack on him from all sides -- opposition and his foes from within -- seems to have had enough on the drug peddlar-police-politician nexus case. And, the old warhorse from Ponda, has fallen back on that tried and tested battle tactic - 'attack is the best defence' - to take on his tormentors, obliquely accusing them (coastal MLAs) of raising the ruckus against him because their 'haftas' from Goa's narco economy have halted. Strangely, not one of the 'we want a CBI probe' critics have refuted or retorted Ravi's charge, although there are at least half-a-dozen 'coastal MLAs' on whom his 'hafta' cap fits.
So, isn't there a single one who'd show us he's got the onions to take up the gauntlet and challenge Ravi's allegations?  None as of now, and Ravi it seems, will be let off with this poor excuse for a defence.
Meanwhile, on Independence Day eve, Ravi also defended his son Roy, the pawn (or should we say 'prawn'?) in this high-pitch political drama that's being played out by the 40 thieves since February. It's because he (Roy) intends to contest the next Assembly election from the Mayem constituency that politicos are maligning him, papa Ravi claimed.
Beats me how contesting a future election, or politics, can absolve you of all malfeasance or allegations of it.
Remember the long Mickky run? All his troubles too were the off-shoots of politics, or so he and his defence team said. So what, if a woman in her prime has lost her life. Women die everyday, don't they?
What's of prime importance is that the show of the 40 thieves' must go on. What about law and justice? Let it be damned. After all, politics is what makes Goa tick. And, if not for our politicos, Nostradamas' doomsday may have already wrecked us all!

Great and bad show

Goa tourism tagged on to the concert and claimed that it was a 'change of stance' to attract music-loving visitors to Goa. But although the nightingale did indeed regale, not everyone who paid and went to the show came back home a happy soul.
First, the Rs 99 entry ticket didn't get you back the 'Re one' if you shelled out the green note. Ditto for the higher-priced Rs 199 and Rs 299 tickets.
Second, the organisers claimed that the Rs 99 ticket-holders would have to stand through the show and the seats would be only for the Rs 199 and higher denomination ticket-holders. But at the show, not just the 99 but the 199 and some 299 ticket-holders too were on their feet and in the midst of utter chaos.
A sign of things to come this upcoming tourist season?
For the record though, Lorna, says a colleague who was at the show, was at her best!

Rane Jr’s dilemma

He has to face an election and win it before Christmas, if he has to continue to be a minister. And so, Vishwajeet Rane is moving on the double in Valpoi, hand-holding Ganesh mandals, addressing workers and the public, every other day.
But the scion of Sattari is in a dilemma, selling to the people what he has done ever since he burst on to the scene as a first time MLA and minister, although he was de-facto his own 'Papa', during the latter's many stints in the hot seat. The other day, at a meeting he addressed which unfortunately was infiltrated by some from the opposite camp, the Sattari scion waxed eloquent on how Sattari was 'neglected' all these years, and if it has seen any development, it's only in the last three years when he became MLA and minister.
'So, didn't his dad do anything for Sattari in his more than 30 years, many of them as CM?' was the question shot back at the dimunitive leader.
Now, the health minister talks less of what has been done and more about what he will do!

Mamlatdar via an auction
It's another matter that the 'mamlatdar' posts filled in recent years were auctioned but a man from Borim recently discovered how easy it is to be a 'Mamlatdar', albeit a perceived one, by simply winning an auction!
He recently won an auction for the 'as is where is' basis sale of a government vehicle. The jeep was his, so he began driving around town with it, little realising that the 'Bicholim mamlatdar' embossed on it wasn't removed!
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