A regional party by Activists in Goa?

The Election Commission designates two types of political parties in India. Political parties whose realm of influence extends to four or more states are termed as ‘national’, the rest being classified as regional. Regional parties contest for elections within that state and are considered to be truly representing the welfare of the people in that state. A casual glance at the political scenario in our Goa shows that we have no regional party of note to protect our interests. The two major political parties in Goa are both branches of a national party. The ministers of these parties are more interested in following the commands from the central ‘high-command’ and the aspirations of the locals are put on the back burner.


The first regional parties in India originated before independence. In Tamil Nadu the “Dravida Munnetra Kazagham” (DMK) party helped form the Tamil state and safeguarded the interest of the Dravidian people from immigrant north Indian Aryan culture. The “Akali Dal” in Punjab is a religion oriented party whose followers are the Sikhs. In Andhra Pradesh, “Telegu Desam” was founded to protect local Telugu culture. In Assam with the “Assam Gana Parishad” and in Maharashtra with the “Shiv Sena”, there are political parties which came into existence because of the discriminatory feelings of the local 'sons of soil' population. The seeds of dissent were sown by frenzied migration from poorer neighboring states as well as countries like Bangladesh and Nepal, a situation similar to what we are seeing in Goa today. In recent years these parties have moderated their ideologies to integrate in the national coalition governments. The other notable state parties in India include the National Conference in Kashmir, Haryana Vikas Party in Haryana, Manipur People's Party in Manipur, Sikkim Democratic Front in Sikkim, Mizo National Front in Mizoram, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu and many other parties. People who broke away from larger national parties founded some state parties like the Trinamul Congress, Tamil Manila Congress, Kerala Congress, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena etc.



It may be recalled that before Goa ’s Liberation, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then prime minister of India had declared: " Goa has a distinct personality, and we have recognized it". He subsequently stated “We do not want to impose anything...If anything is to be changed, that shall be decided by Goans alone...” Though the need to preserve Goa ’s identity was often mentioned, no endeavors beside the language opinion poll were undertaken to ascertain the people’s wishes.


The need of a legislation or status for Goa to protect the interests of the Goan populace was felt even then fearing that Goa would sooner or later be lost in the mammoth ocean that is India . Such “radical” thoughts were however quashed by a pseudo or ultra patriotic fervor that swept the land after liberation from the Portuguese. A look at the socio-economic scenario today makes you reckon that those apprehensions were indeed genuine. The influence of national political parties towards this predicament cannot be summarily dismissed.



The scenario post liberation from the Portuguese rule was different. Goa was then a union territory with two strong regional parties, the Maharastrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the United Goans Party (UGP). Goa had managed to carve a unique spot in the multi-cultural concoction that is India. This sense of identity along with a series of stable governments allowed the state to make rapid strides towards modernization. In spite of some populist laws like the Mundkar Act, Land to the tiller Act etc. that were enacted in that era, Goa began to flourish. Unfortunately nothing was done to regularize the mining industry nor were our communidade lands safeguarded, which has resulted in their incessant exploitation now. The quintessential old world charm remained a part of the Goa and attracted tourists from all over the world. The tourism industry went on to be the backbone of our economy.



Goa attained statehood in 1987; a political milestone that got it renewed attention from the central government. The entrance of national parties like the Congress and Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) made the Goan political scenario take a turn for the worse. Goa has a unicameral legislature consisting of a forty member Legislative Assembly, headed by a Chief Minister. Despite a relatively small legislative strength, the modus operandi for getting a simple majority has eluded successive governments. For the 20 years since being declared a full-fledged state, Goa has had 19 Chief Ministers, only one lasting the full term of office. This reflects very poorly on the judgment of the people of Goa. Political analysts often blame this volatility on the rampant corruption, infighting and frequent defections orchestrated by the MLA’s of these national parties. The Indian ingenuity to find loopholes and circumvent rules and regulations is perhaps unparalleled. This regrettably is the culture that our present MLA’s have inherited.



Regional parties in India came into existence ostensibly to safeguard the legitimate interests of an individual state where the national level parties, for specific constraints, are handicapped to undertake that. In the present era of coalition governments, regional parties play the balancing role by extending conditional support to national parties based on a common agenda in order to ensure sops for areas neglected in the national scenario thus ensuring the country’s growth. Most of these regional parties have agenda fitting certain culture dominant within that state but may also partake in neighboring states, which have constituencies with culture similar to the first state. With no central leadership in the national capital to oversee the wings of these regional parties and none to report to about the programs and functioning, they enjoy unequivocal freedom. With comprehensive jurisdiction over the state’s resources and finances, these parties could either use them for the state's welfare or misuse them for individual benefit. Hence the onus is on the people to ensure that they elect representatives who are genuinely concerned with the welfare of the state.



The Congress Party was the first national party that came into power after Goa ’s statehood on the strength of its leadership and strong ideals. However the party members soon fall prey to corruption, seeing the benefits of having a cabinet berth and the potential income to be had. All elected MLA’s began harboring thoughts of occupying the “Chief Minister’s” chair and so began the trend of party hopping and defections. The party began offering ‘tickets’ to dubious characters with unquestionable criminal backgrounds and even political lineage. In recent years the Congress party has been responsible for the once inconceivable slums that now dot Goa ’s countryside to cultivate migrant vote-banks. In order to please the central party leaders, Goa ’s land is being sold to outsiders and top bureaucratic jobs are offered on a platter to non-Goans. Today their slogan of “aam aadmi(ghanti) ki party” is thought to refer to non-Goans, with the niz Goenkar being relegated to second class status.



The other alternative, the BJP is incontrovertibly communal. The BJP style of governance is based on hate and despotic behavior just like the Congress thrives on lethargy and corruption. It can be argued that while BJP was at the helm of affairs the government was disciplined and there were no “mega-issues” like we have today. However during their reign, a free hand was given to the cadres of their sister organizations in the Sangh Parivar, some of which are arguably involved in funding and organizing bomb blasts in various parts of the country. Also the press was given a gag order and many controversial topics were held under wraps only to emerge as ‘mega-issues’ now. Can Goa take the risk of having a BJP led government when in other states of India, BJP governed states are hot spots of ‘terror strikes’ and ‘communal riots’?



The regional parties in Goa include the MGP, UGDP and Save Goa Front (SGF). The members of the latter are mostly ex-MLA’s of either the Congress or the BJP. The Su-Raj party also holds promise but their outlook has been perceived as too conservative. The SGF offered many promises last election but eventually sold themselves out in an effort to acquire ‘cabinet berths’. As the incumbent government stumbles along the rough and ‘mine-infested’ road that is Goan politics and reaches its closing stages, there is a question that assails our consciousness. Which of these lesser evils should we elect to represent us for the next four years? Why can’t we choose something good? On this note, let me quote George Bernard Shaw “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not?”



It is said that the night is darkest before the dawn and with the coming of the RPG-2021 and a special status for Goa , we can feel the dawn approach. Now is the time to leave the failed policies of the previous administrations and start afresh. In a small state like Goa with only 40 representatives in the Legislative Assembly, we can afford the luxury of examining the credibility of every candidate seeking to be elected. It wouldn’t hurt if the Election Commission is more vigilant in checking the antecedents and disqualifying nominees who file false affidavits about their education and finances. The highly literate population of Goa is ready to have MLA’s who are at least graduates in any discipline. The Goan political scene also needs more women candidates to soothe our frayed psyches.


We would need new leadership and policies of participatory governance. Do we have any leaders of caliber who can lead Goa out of the deep hole we are currently stuck in? We have to look no further that the very architects of change and reform that has transformed Goa today…our activists. To quote Ross Perot, “The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river”. We need our activists to clean up this murky river that is Goan politics, because frankly I see no one better suited to the job. If our activists come together under the guidance of stalwart selfless political old-hands there is still some hope. We have many prominent activists who are more in touch with the ground realities in Goa when compared to our political pretenders. Do we have 40 people who can stand up to be counted as our architects of change? Permit me to quote the beacon of hope and change, Pres. Barack Obama, “Hope is the bedrock of our nation. The belief that our destiny will not be written for us but by us, by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.”



Not all of the current MLA’s in the assembly are corrupt and there are still some who are genuinely concerned about the welfare of Goa. The Goan political scene also needs more women candidates to soothe our frayed psyches. With a population that is predominantly young, it is time we have some young political leaders to inject fresh and progressive thinking to our policies. In the past bribes, petty promises, pessimism and sheer apathy had us voting for one candidate even when our heart shed quiet tears for the ‘honest’ candidate. The onus is on the Goenkar to listen to their hearts and select the appropriate candidate; after all they are in the best position to know what the incumbent MLA has done for their constituency. Remember that the Goan population still consists of about 60 percent niz Goenkars. Assuming the migrant vote-bank will be inclined towards re-voting in their political benefactors, your every vote can make a difference. The time for pontification and petty squabbles is past, it time to be united and aggressive to preserve our Goa or what is left of it. If and when our activists do come together under a political banner then they will have my vote, the decision here is not mine alone, the question is will you?

`Reuben