Is the pickle getting rancid?

Two big stories hit the headlines in the last fortnight. The Modi-Tharoor-Gabriella-Pushkar fiasco at the national level, and, back home in Goa, the CBI case against Goa's Mr Clean - Manohar Parrikar - over IFFI 2004.

Not much in common in the two gentlemen involved in these cases.

For instance, the public perception about the ex-IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, is nowhere even close to the huge 'Mr Clean' image of our own 'Bhai' has he is affectionately called by friends and BJP cadres. Yet the two face the same charge - alleged malfeasance.

Strangely however, the defence -- the 'I have done nothing wrong' types - proferred by the two have striking similarities. Also, another strategy adopted by Parrikar - 'If I am guilty, so are all the other members of the IFFI Core Committee' - finds an echo in what Modi's doing, of seeking to implicate all the members of the IPL Governing Council.

But there sure is a common lesson for the Modis, Parrikars, et al - People in glass houses should not throw stones.

Some eight years ago, Parrikar was on the other side of the fence and at the helm, hitting straight drives, square-cuts and hook-shots that saw two top Congress politicians -- Mauvin Godinho and Somnath Zuwarkar - land in jail and another, Dayanand Narvekar, in hospital to escape jail.

'Let them face the law' was his oft-repeated justification for his chosen men in the Goa Police hounding these political foes of his. Now, suddenly, he finds himself facing the law, and ironically, on a complaint filed by the hounded - Mauvin Godinho. And, he is complaining!

'Political parties in power should not use agencies to unleash political vendettas' was his refrain after the two-hour grilling at the CBI. Is the pickle getting rancid?

To grant it to Parrikar, however, he still retains this huge 'Mr Clean' perception among the public. Almost every person, I've spoken to after his two-hour interrogation by the CBI hit the headlines, vociferously vouched that he is clean, and will come out clean in the 'IFFI-in-a-jiffy' case.

The war within

The young man of Goa's politics, Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane, seems to be in a tearing hurry. Sources in his camp say G-7 is a thing of the past. The Sattari scion now has his eyes set on the 2012 general election and chosen men in the five Bicholim-Sattari constituencies who he wants as MLAs after those polls. And, BJP's Bicholim legislator, Rajesh Patnekar, is in his plans, never mind that umpteen attempts to get Patnekar to join the Congress in the recent past have failed.

But what lends credence to the Patnekar story is that Rane Jr has given Naresh Sawal, until recently his blue-eyed boy in Bicholim, a freezing shoulder. He's been given a telling off, but Sawal is not one to give up so easily. Apparently, Sawal has clinged on to another Congress bigwig - Ramakant Khalap - and the two were recently seen in each other's company on the dais at a public function in Mencurem-Bicholim.

Not to be outdone, Rane Jr has begun dabbling in Khalap's Pernem - the seat carved out from the erstwhile Mandrem and Pernem seats in the last delimitation. He has vowed to field Sangeeta Parab and is often seen in Pernem's jurisdiction in the lady's company. The war seems to be out there in the open.

In several other parts of Goa, the Congress faces such dilemmas. Churchill v/s Luizinho v/s Sardinha in Salcete. In Canacona, it's gonna be Isidore Fernandes v/s Sanjay Bandekar for the lone seat. And, many more such battles are yet to break out in the open.

As usual, the Congress needs no enemy. The Congress itself suffices, as the party's own matriarch - Sonia Gandhi - so often points out.

Taste of their own medicine

One hot and humid afternoon last week, there was an incident where money was extorted, inside the Calangute police station. And for once, it was the cop that had to shell out.

A 'eunuch' held a police sub-inspector hostage for a couple of minutes. He/she demanded that the PSI give money. Finally, the PSI picked out a Rs 50 note and was reluctantly handing it over to the enuch. But he/she refused to take it and demanded a minimum of Rs 200.

Interestingly, it all sounded as if this was a familiar drama at the police station. Even as the PSI struggled to wriggle out from the eunuch's grip, the other cops and staff remained unpeturbed, busy with their regular chores. The PSI's repeated requests to come again the next time or try out other police stations failed to drive the visitor away.

Finally, the PSI's claim that he was broke, it being the end of the month, worked. It prompted some change of heart, and the eunuch left with the Rs 50 note, but promised to come back when the money got to be 'real big'. Taste of their own medicine?