It’s ‘perform or perish’ for Diggu-ji (January 19, 2010)

Aal iz well?
Not quite, although Diggu kaka by sheer luck continues to retain his 'driver's seat' of the Congress-led ruling dispensation. There are too many 'idiots' hovering around this coveted seat, and the latest to join the gang is the Varca strongman Churchill Alemao. Definitely 'aal izn't well' in Diggu's dispensation. If the 'idiots' are to be believed, funds get allotted only for projects mooted by the CM himself -- the Dona Paula-Vasco sealink for example -- while all other ministers have to wait for months for their files to emerge from the heaps lying in the finance department. And so, with no files moving, there's no moolah to make and there lies the grouse of the Diggu-hatao brigade.

Why he survived is seemingly because he has tonnes of luck, and more importantly, the 'idiots' planned their coup poorly. It was apparent that there were quite a few things visibly amiss. For instance, Churchill was there but his brother Joaquim wasn't. And worst of all, the Diggu-hatao ship had no captain, only hesitatingly reluctant brides in Churchill himself and Goa's perennial CM candidate -- Speaker Pratapsing Rane. Churchill's and Rane's identical 'I will accept it if the High Command says so' exposed the duo's school boyish fettish for the chair. But neither of them did what it takes to catapulate such political upheveals to the the intended goal of unseating an incumbent Congress CM -- lead from the front. Non-playing captains don't really work in politics as they do in Davis Cup tennis.

Home Minister Ravi Naik's deafening silence was another ominous signal for the coup. Now, this is one player in the Congress who just cannot be left out of the loop when such major a development as leadership change is envisaged. Two-and-half-years ago, Ravi lost the race for the CM's chair by the proverbial 'slip between the cup and the lip'. This in itself makes him the natural contender 'Numero Uno' to replace Diggu. He is unlikely to let that advantage slip out of his hands without a fight, whether it's with Rane Sr or even Churchill for that matter.
And, the final straw on the camel's back for the dissidents was their abyssmally poor timing. Rahul Gandhi is arriving today and trouble on Goa's political stage was the least of things the Congress could afford during the stay of their 'Crown Prince' here. That's perhaps why Hariprasad and company went on an overdrive on their cell phones and took the wind out of the dissidents' sails.

A false start is how at best the rumblings of last week can be summed up. But Diggu cannot expect the going, henceforth, to be any easier. Mere lip-service like your oft repeated promises to Goans on SEZ, Regional Plan, CRZ demolitions, which have only remained on paper just won't suffice to keep him going any longer. Two-and-half-years is second longest stint at a stretch (after Rane Sr's between 1995-98) any CM has had since Goa got statehood in 1987. Perform Mr Chief Minister Sir, or the writing is on the wall -- PERISH.

Will Rahulji get a glimpse of Poriem dhangars’ fate?
So, Sankalp Amonkar and Co in the GPYC are going to exhume the thrashing his men got for their act of agitating against the agitation against the Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat at Dona Paula. Just so that Rahul Gandhi gets sensitised. Wah Amonkar wah! Tussi great ho!! Except that Rahul is too well informed of the project bearing his late father's name, including the massive scandal that it has got buried in. That's why Mama has banished its chief promoter, Dayanand Narvekar, who's still unfinished with licking the wounds.

So before they could be driven to do the same -- lick wounds -- the GPYC-wallahs would do better to stick to Goan traditions in hospitality instead. When a guest of the stature of Rahul Gandhi comes home, serve him dishes that appeal to his taste buds, not yours. And, what could be more enticing for Amonkar and Co, than to take Rahulji to the woods of Sattari and show him first hand the plight of the displaced Dhangars who lost their homes, their hopes and their dreams just a fortnight ago, merely because of the whims of another of his ilk -- the 'Crown Prince' of Sattari. Does Amonkar, or anyone else in the GPYC, have the onions to lay the red carpet for Rahulji all the way to Sattari??