Believe it or not, Congress party is alive in Goa. It is showing signs of life, though it lies battered, humbled and in shambles after its shock defeat at the hands of the BJP. Nevertheless, there’s hope, as we see some pro-active action, at least some utterances coming forth from the party.
Apart from the courage mustered by some fledglings from within the party, the decimated Congress’s decision to take on the Government to task in the ensuing Monsoon Assembly session beginning later this week is rather encouraging news for true democrats. After the unprecedented collapse of the Congress bastions during the last elections, the party has hopefully now come to the conclusion that they ought not to have taken the people for granted, as was the habitual trend of the party big-wigs and Observers, including those in charge of Goa Desk over the decades. Hopefully, this will be a lesson from its humiliating defeat.
Now that the party is gearing up to take on the Government, itsimply means that the party is at least attempting to show that it has recovered from the otherwise demoralizing shock. This however does not imply that the veterans will take the lead in throwing the Government on the mat. It should not come as a surprise if new recruits in the party fold take up the cudgels. This is expected because those who have been in power for long tend to remain dumb, fearing reprisals from the BJP government, what with personal experiences from fellow legislators within the party being tormented, even sent to jail on charges of corruption. That the issue on which they were charged either fizzled out or remained unresolved with back door compromises, without being convicted is not the issue. The idea is to instill the fear factor, in an effort to silence any opposition.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Subash Shirodkar has sounded that the BJP government was indulging in vindictive politics. Therefore, the fear of Damocles Swords seems to perpetually over the heads of the Congress --- rightly, and deservedly so.
In such a predicament, it will undoubtedly be left to the new faces to take up the task of leading the attack. This was evident in recent weeks, where new comers in the Assembly were heard being vocal, reflecting the sentiments of the people. Over the weeks, since the new Government took over, utterances against the government were in fits and starts, so much so, it appeared that they were either coy or uncertain of what they had to utter despite the fact that there were several controversial issues affecting the State.
Sure, there is all-round agreement to the fact that little change is seen in the mining sector. Illegalities continue, and it is shocking that if the Government has failed to change the situation, they have no moral right to be complacent, because it was primarily on this ground that it was elected to power.
All said, it is a matter of a few days to see what kind of fire power the Congress will display. Whether statements emanating on the floor of the Assembly are `match-fixed’ to show to the TV viewers that they are performing their duty, or after all the Opposition really is committed to playing a constructive role in State Governance, is left the people to see.
