UNIQUE: For the first time since Independence the country has witnessed a shooting war between two Indian states Assam and Mizoram, both ruled by the BJP, on the issue of cow slaughter and sanctuary for refugees from Myanmar.

BY RAJAN NARAYAN

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when the most powerful political strategist in the country is Prashant Kishor. For a Saturday following the week when there were armed clashes between Assam and Mizoram which are both BJP-ruled states. For a Saturday following the week when Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain called Goans third rate politicians. For a Saturday following the week when the Supreme Court made it clear that beggers should be treated with compassion and must not be banned or arrested. For a Saturday following the week when Goa and India became part of the Red List of Saudi Arabia.

THE STRATEGIST

AND a few stray thoughts on the most feared political expert in the country, Prashant Kishor. What makes Prashant Kishor unique is that he does not have any political ideology. Prashant Kishor is an outstanding marketing professional who has mastered the art of winning elections for his clients.
It was Narendra Modi who first sought the services of the former US- based Prashant Kishor. It was Prashant who developed the strategy which led to the victory of Narendra Modi both in the 2014 and the 2019 Parliamentary polls. Prashant Kishor then responded to a desperate appeal from Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar. Again Prashant’s strategy worked and Nitish Kumar managed to retain power in the Bihar elections.
The expertise of Prashant Kishor was sought by Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal. Mamata didi was engaged in a very fierce fight with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, for retaining her control over West Bengal. The Bengal elections proved the professionalism of Prashant Kishore. Even though he had earlier helped Modi and Shah win the Parliamentary elections, in the case of West Bengal he was clear that his client was Mamata Banerjee. The BJP was so obsessed with displacing Mamata Banerjee that instead of concentrating on tackling the second wave of covid-19, Modi and Shah spent most of their time campaigning against Mamata in West Bengal.
It was perhaps thanks to Prashant that Mamata didi came up with Jai Durga as a counter to the BJP’s Sai Ram. The BJP was trying to polarise the voters in Bengal on communal lines. The BJP was trying to project Mamata as a patron not just of the minority Muslim community but as someone who was giving refuge to Bangladeshis. The BJP tried to repeat its formula which was successful in Assam, where they won the election playing the communal card. But it did not work in West Bengal because this time around Mamata had the help of Prashant Kishor.
Even the fact that the BJP managed to persuade senior Trinamol Congress leaders like Mukul Roy, to defect to the BJP, did not make a difference. Mamata won the West Bengal Assembly election by an even bigger margin then in the past. To add salt to the injured BJP, Mukul Roy returned to the Trinamol Congress. North, South, East or West, Prashant is only concerned about ensuring the victory of his client.
Prashant extended his support to Stalin, the DMK chief in the Tamil Nadu election. Similarly, he extended his support to Uddhav Thackaray in Maharashtra. Unlike political parties and individual politicians and their vote bank politics, Prashant is a total professional. He ruthlessly and coldly calculates the swing factors in each of the states which have invited him to help win in the Assembly elections.
Prashant has also built a large team of professionals to help him and is an expert in using the social media for the benefit of his clients. Fortunately, for secular democratic India, Prashant seems to have realised his mistake in promoting Modi and is now trying to put together a national alliance against the BJP in the 2024 elections. Prashant has had discussions not only with Sharad Pawar, the prime mover of the Rashtriya Manch, but also with Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and other Opposition leaders.
SHOOTING CLASH

AND a few stray thoughts on the armed clash between Assam and Mizoram which are both BJP-ruled states. In the clash between the two states six Assam cops were killed and 80 injured. Ironically, the police teams involved in the clash were both led by Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, who are controlled and report to the Centre. Among those killed is reportedly Nimbalkar, the brother of lead Marathi actress Urmila Nimbalkar, who was on deputation in Mizoram. It could have been a Goan officer as Goa is part of the Central cadre which includes Assam, the Union territories and Goa.
The chief ministers of Assam and Mizoram have taken to the social network to blame each other for the unprecedented shooting match between two neighbouring states. This is the first time the police of two Indian states have shot at each other. It is a very dangerous precedent as the Karnataka police might feel encouraged to shoot at the Goa police over the Mhadei issue.
It was not even a case of two states from different political parties. The reason why senior officers of the police, including the Director General and the Inspector General, are always Central officers from the IPS cadres, is precisely to prevent such incidents. The Assam government claims that its officials and police were attacked within Assam by the Mizoram police. The Mizoram government on its part has been claiming that they resorted to firing in self-defence.
The Assam government is even talking about Mizoram violating its Constitutional boundary. This is almost like claiming that Assam is not a part of India and is a separate country. The Central Reserve Police force which is under Home Minister Amit Shah has taken back control of the inter-state border where the shooting match took place. The provocation for the shooting match is allegedly the new law restricting the transportation of cattle through Assam.
In an attempt to convert Assam into a Hindutuva state the local BJP government has imposed a ban on cow slaughter. This affects Mizoram as the staple food in the state is beef. It is similar to the situation between Goa and Karnataka. It may be recalled that Karnataka, like many other BJP states, had imposed a ban on cow slaughter. The Assam government is also claiming that the shooting match was triggered by the crackdown on narcotic smuggling.
The most shocking aspect of the shooting match is that civilians of Mizoram wearing uniforms and bullet proof jackets allegedly attacked the police force of Assam. There is also a conflict between Mizoram and Assam over Mizoram’s refusal to offer sanctuary to the a section of the refugees from Myanmar. There is tension throughout the North East states primarily because the BJP has been attempting to topple the existing Congress governments.\
The North East like Goa is predominantly Christian and is a careful target of the BJP which wants to convert the entire country into a Hindutuva bastion. There have even been reports of RSS workers kidnapping tribal children and taken them to Karnataka to convert them to Hinduism. Not surprisingly the author of the report was arrested by the BJP government under the Sedition Act.
The Congress on its part had deputed Luizinho Faleiro to take charge of the North East as he has a good equation with the clergy. Indeed, at his daughter’s wedding in Goa, I recall there were dozens of senior bishops and even cardinals from the North East present as invitees.

THIRD RATE POLITICIANS

AND a few stray thoughts on Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain calling Goans third rate politicians. This has led to a social media war between Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal. Pramod Sawant has cited the fact that Goa has had great political leaders like Jack Sequeira, Dayanand Bandodkar and Manohar Parrikar. Kejriwal retorted pointing out that the current BJP MLAs including the chief minister do not have the greatness of Dayanand Bandodkar, the integrity of Dr Jack Sequeira or the vision of Manohar Parrikar.
Interestingly, the Aam Adami party has been promising Goans that they will fulfil the vision of the late Manohar Parrikar if they win the forthcoming Assembly elections. The AAP is obviously not aware that Manohar Parrikar is no longer very popular with Goans. Indeed, the major projects undertaken by Manohar Parrikar such as the Atal Setu bridge are in a terrible condition. Pramod Sawant has retorted claiming that the present leaders of the BJP are an epitome of integrity and humility. Which is a joke as the BJP leaders, particularly those who have joined the BJP from other parties, are a symbol of arrogance.
The most arrogant MLAs of the BJP Cabinet are Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane. The biggest losses due to the flooding consequent to 10 days of steady monsoon rain downpour have been in the chief minister’s and health minister’s constituencies of Sanquelim and Valpoi, respectively. Sawant on his part has cited the examples of Rajendra Arlekar and Shripad Naik as the examples of integrity and humility. Never mind that their integrity and humility has been rewarded by postings out of Goa.
Though Shripad Naik has been very keen on returning to State politics, Manohar Parrikar never allowed him to contest a seat to the Goa Assembly. Even in the 2017 election Shripad Naik was keen on contesting from the new Porvorim constituency. As a senior most BJP leader with tremendous experience handling ministries at the Centre, Shripad Naik should have been the logical choice to succeed the late Manohar Parrikar.
The new BJP president JP Nadda however made it clear during his recent two-day visit to Goa that Pramod Sawant would continue to be the chief minister’s face if the BJP gets a majority in the 2022 elections. Precisely because of his integrity, the BJP has shunted Rajendra Arlekar to be governor of Himachal Pradesh, as it did not want him to stake his claim to the chief minister’s post.
The BJP is totally divided with several senior leaders like Laxmikant Parsekar and Vinay Tendulkar also wanting to contest from Goa in the hope that they may be chief minister. BJP’s Power Minister Nilesh Cabral had no answer to the question posed by AAP’s Power Minister Satyendra as to why the BJP had to depend on defectors to retain power.
As many as 14 of the BJP MLAs of the present government are defectors. This includes Mauvin Godinho and Vishwajit Rane who resigned from the Congress and got elected on the BJP ticket. It also includes the 10 Congress MLAs who were induced to defect to the BJP after the death of Manohar Parrikar by Babush Monserrate and the two MGP MLAs who merged with the BJP.

COMPASSION FOR BEGGARS!

AND a few stray thoughts on the Supreme Court ruling that beggars should be treated with compassion. In response to a public interest litigation seeking the removal of all beggars from public places and traffic junctions, the SC bench of DY Chandrachud and MR Shah, pointed out that no person would like to beg unless he or she is forced to do so. The apex court pointed out that begging was a socio-economic problem and must not be treated as a law and order issue.
To quote the Supreme Court judges “the SC will never restrain people from begging. The only solution to this socio-economic problem is their rehabilitation and giving them education and employment. This is more needed for the little children who beg at the traffic junctions. We need a humanitarian and sympathetic approach.” The judgement of the SC is very pertinent.
Beggars have increased due to covid-19 and its lockdowns. With industry and even constructions coming to a halt even on 18 June road we can see jobless migrants with nowhere to go seeking shelter for the night here and there on the pavements for protection from the rain. Without jobs they cannot afford to pay rents and consequently have to find temporary shelter wherever they can in urban areas.
The largest number of road-side beggars and children are at traffic junctions in Mumbai. These children are very right and if provided with education they would be able to earn their living instead of engaging in begging. Hopefully, following the SC judgement the State government of Maharashtra will decriminalize begging.
Under the Mumbai Prevention of Begging Act of 1969, which is also applicable to Goa, begging is an offence and provides for detention of beggars found begging in public places. While one appreciates the stand taken by the Supreme Court, trafficking of children for begging should be strictly banned. There are gangs in the country which even mutilate children so that they will attract sympathy and more money for their controllers

no entry for goanS, indians

AND a last stray thought on India and Goa being put on the No Entry list by Saudi Arabia. Amongst other countries which have been barred from Saudi Arabia are Brazil and even the United Arab Emirates. Unlike Saudi Arabia the UAE has been relaxing curbs on employment of migrants job seekers. In the recent past the UAE has permitted migrant workers to return provide they have been vaccinated and they carry a covid-19 negative certificate which is valid for the 72 hours from the day of travel.
Saudi Arabia is among the few Middle East countries which has been able to maintain a control over the spread of covid-19. Unlike India which went ahead with super spreader events like the Kumbh Mela, even the annual Haj pilgrimage was primarily limited to locals and held in a very austere manner. Only 50 pilgrims from each country were permitted to perform their Haj duties this year. The ban on Indians will impact migrant labour which has been welcomed by Saudi Arabia for several decades in the past.