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Goan politicians roam around parties like tourists on the beach

Sandesh Prabhudesaiin Panaji

With greed for power being the key word in Goa's politics, the issue of who would ultimately form the next government, the third in almost as many months, depends entirely upon the "size and weight" of the offers. The question of principles or peoples' welfare just does not exist.

A series of defections and counter-defections has once again thrown up a shaky assembly. Of the state's 40 legislators, the ruling coalition is left with 19 while the Congress has staked claim to form the government with 21 members.

The "original assembly" elected soon after the November 1994 election was a little similar to this one. The Congress had 18 members, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party 12, the Bharatiya Janata Party four, and the United Goans Democratic Party and Independents three each.

A lot of water has flowed through the Mandovi since then. The Congress has 19 legislators, with strongman Churchill Alemao's UGDP MLAs joining the Congress, but six former Congressmen are still holding on to the reins of power in the name of the Goa Rajiv Congress. The MGP and BJP are still supporting Dr Wilfred de Souza's coalition government.

The crisis erupted because a group of four GRC members, led by rebel leader Dayanand Narvekar, rejoined the Congress just three and a half months after 10 of them had split from the ruling Congress party in July to end Pratapsing Rane's three-and-a-half-year rule.

Rane could provide a "stable government" till recently only because four MGP men defected and joined the Congress way back in December 1994. Two each from among them are today with the GRC and the Congress. Seventyfive-year-old Deu Mandrekar, the deputy speaker, has defected for the third time after being elected as MGP MLA, first to the Congress, then to the GRC and now back to the Congress.

Today, the Congress, which is eagerly awaiting the governor's decision after staking its claim, has four MLAs who have defected once, three who have defected twice while Mandrekar has a record for defecting thrice. Even Dr de Souza's GRC has four one-time defectors and two "double defectors".

"A split is always auspicious," claims Congress observer Govindrao Adik while justifying Sonia Gandhi's decision to readmit the four rebels back into the party fold. Narvekar, the rebel leader, proudly states that he had proved that he can form and dislodge any government if he is humiliated.

The game of toppling is also not a new phenomenon in the tiny tourist state as politicians roam from one party to another like tourists. The last assembly term, from 1989 to 1994, had witnessed seven chief ministers in five years with Alemao being chief minister for only 19 days and North Goa MP Ravi Naik being CM once again only for seven days.

With such an "industrious" background to Goa's greedy politicians, who have always defected to seize ministerial berths, the fate of Dr de Souza's coalition government depends entirely on whether he can offer better deals than the Congress to the three Independents in his cabinet.

Though two Independents are currently in the Congress camp while one is "absconding", GRC sources reveal that all three of them may be inducted into the Dr de Souza cabinet, once the chief minister returns from his aborted London trip.

The Congress, on the other hand, is wooing more GRC members into its camp though sources disclose that internal squabbles have already begun among them since few former Congress ministers would be left out from the cabinet, to accommodate the new entrants.

The Congress, however, appears to be having a plus point in that two strong mine owners, having close relations with a major industrial house, are footing the bills of five star hotels and providing "additional help" to form the government, though the Congress has vehemently denied the charge.

The advantage for Dr de Souza, however, is in having five vacancies in his government, including three ministerial berths, that he could dangle as bait.

While it appears that Governor, Lieutenant General (retd) J F R Jacob would leave the whole issue to be decided on the floor of the assembly, convened on December 2, Goans hope that President's rule is imposed in the state, paving the way for fresh elections rather than have such greedy games replayed over and over again.

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