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President's rule brings respite from political tamasha

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

Goa has been brought under President's rule for the fourth time since its liberation in 1961, while people are feeling more relieved this time than ever in the past for their elected representatives not ruling the state any more.

All eyes are obviously set on elections now, which are expected by May-end. The Congress has already decided to set the ball rolling by urging the Election Commission to hold it by May while the BJP expects it by the first week of June.

After meeting the state officials today, Governor J F R Jacob told journalists that he would initiate a dialogue with the Election Commission to hold assembly polls as early as possible, possibly before the onset of monsoons in June.

Stating that he had no alternative left other than to recommend the invocation of Article 356, he feels a similar situation had not occurred in November last, when a vociferous demand by public and media for dissolution was ignored by the governor after the Congress government had pulled down the three and a half month-old Dr Wilfred de Souza government.

Jacob has now decided to run the administration in a most transparent manner, by visiting the state secretariat every day and listening to public grievances. However, he has decided not to take any major policy decisions. "Let the new elected government decide about it", he said.

In fact, this is the third time that central rule has been imposed in Goa because of political instability. The first time the move was resorted to, in December 1963, was to hold a plebiscite to determine whether Goans would choose merger with neighbouring Maharashtra or remain independent. Goa's first assembly, headed by the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Chief Minister Bhausaheb Bandodkar was then dissolved, and reconstituted in April 1967. But statehood was a long way off.

The second time central rule was imposed was 12 years later, in April 1979, when the MGP's 17-year rule came to an end following an internal revolt. The Shashikala Kakodkar government was defeated on a budgetary motion, after which the Congress started ruling the state.

After becoming a full-fledged state in 1987, the first state assembly constituted in 1989, and led by a non-Congress government headed by a bunch of defectors collapsed within 10 months. The assembly was kept under suspended animation for one month, till fresh defections took place, paving way for the Congress to come back to power.

The game of musical chair has been going on since then, with the earlier term witnessing seven chief ministers in five years, and three chief ministers in seven months due to defections and counter-defections in this term.

"It was most disgraceful and I feel sorry for being part of it", admits outgoing Congress chief minister Luizinho Faleiro. He even confesses that the greed of politicians has lowered the prestige of Goans all over the country.

Dr Wilfred de Souza, who was tipped to be the coalition chief minister by engineering defections in the Congress camp within 68 days, however still blames the BJP, who refused to support any government at the last minute. "Even I was planning to go for dissolution within a fortnight after taking over", he claims.

But the BJP still believes that de Souza had no plans to go for early polls but to join the Congress by ditching all the opposition parties supporting him. They changed their earlier stand to support him because they did not want de Souza to remain a caretaker chief minister till the elections.

Dr Kashinath Jalmi, the outgoing opposition leader of the MGP, feels bad that the state would now be run by bureaucrats, though he welcomes President's rule. But people at large however feel relieved that a bunch of greedy politicians would not rule the tourist state any more.

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