RESIDENT: The suspense continues! Who will succeed Pramod Sawant as the occupant of Mahalaxmi… which is the official residence of the Chief Minister of Goa?

BY RAJAN NARAYAN

AND a few stray thoughts and a few observations for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when the BJP seem to be in no hurry to name the new chief minister of the state. For a Saturday following the week when the shocking news broke out that 11% of government schools in the State of Goa do not have internet connectivity. For a Saturday following the week when several BJP leaders were against entering into an alliance with the MGP. For a Saturday following the week when Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was humiliated in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh. For a Saturday following the week when the centre has approved administering the covid vaccine to young people between 12-14 years. For a Saturday following the week when despite the demolition order of the Cumbarjua Panchayat, the illegal structure built by BJP spokesperson, Shaina NC, has yet to be carried out.

BJP SUSEGAD!
AND a few stray thoughts on the susegad attitude of the BJP high command. Though the election results for the Valentine’s day poll were announced on March 10 March, the BJP high command has yet to decide who should be the chief minister of Goa. In the normal course, political parties which get a majority of the seats rush to the governor to stake their claim. In the state of Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal had announced the AAP’s chief minister even before the election.
In Uttar Pradesh of course there was no need to make a choice as it was automatically assumed that Yogi Adityanath would continue as chief minister. The yogi was contesting assembly elections for the first time from Gorakhpur and won by a margin of over a lakh votes.
The expectation in Goa was that Pramod Sawant would continue to be the chief minister. However, the delay by the party to stake its claim would suggest that there maybe others in the fray. This is the first time in the history of elections in Goa, that elected MLAs took the oath even before the chief ministerial face was announced. Moreover, this time unlike in 2017, the BJP is in a very comfortable position. While on its own it won 20 of the 40 seats in the assembly it has the support of the two MGP MLAs who won the election, namely Sudin Dhavalikar and Jit Arolkar. In addition, the three Independents have also pledged their allegiance to the BJP.
Surprising, even Reginaldo Lourenco who was considered a strong Congressman till the election schedule was announced, has also decided to support the BJP. Of course in the expectation that he will get a cabinet birth in the new government. Unlike in 2017, the BJP did not have to poach MLA’s of other parties like Goa Forward and MGP. The swearing in of the present legislative assembly was already completed by March 15. The new house has been summoned, the speaker has been chosen and the stage has been set for the formation of the BJP government.
The problem appears to be stiff competition among the newly elected BJP MLAs on who should become the chief minister. Incumbent Chief Minister Pramod Sawant won by a narrow margin from Sanquelim. In his meeting with Goa Governor Shreedharan Pillai he is reported to have staked his claim to form the government.
There are rumours going around that Rohan Khaunte, who joined the BJP just before the elections, has also put his hand in the ring. The most embarrassing part of choosing a chief minister is the risk that those whose claims have been ignored may rebel against the BJP. As of now the news from Delhi is that a senior team of BJP leaders will come to Goa after Holi to take a call on who should be the chief minister. If a party does not get a clear majority as in the case of the Congress in the 2017 elections, it will have to go hunting for partners. The BJP does not face any such problems now as already it has the support of 25 MLAs, 20 in its own right and five alliance partners, inclusive of the two MGP MLAs and the three Independent MLAs. We will have to wait out the suspense to see who will first pass the post.

MGP ALLIANCE?
AND a few stray thoughts on senior BJP leaders in the state objecting to the alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. The MJP is not considered a reliable partner. Historically, the MGP has been always aligned with the BJP as they share the same ideology. If anything, the MGP is more hardcore Hindutva than the BJP. The MGP is the patron saint of the Hindu Jana-Jagruthi and the Sanathan Saunstha. The elected BJP MLAs also point out that in his lust for power, Sudin Dhavlikar quickly accepted the offer of TMC for an alliance.
The real reason for the reluctance of the 20 BJP MLAs is that they do not want to share the spoils of victory. The problem with coalition government is that inevitably the ruling party has to offer the more remunerative portfolios to the outsiders. As it is the BJP faces the problem of adequately rewarding Vishwajit Rane and Mauvin Godinho who were the first to resign from the Congress and join the BJP. Both of them contested on the BJP ticket and won. The BJP will be under pressure to give a cabinet berth to Reginaldo Lourenco, the Curtorim MLA. The other two Independent MLAs, ophthalmologist Chandrakant Shetye and Antonio Vas, may also demand a ticket.
In the good old times this was not a problem as there was no ceiling on the number of cabinet ministers. Since the Election Commission amended the rules to stipulate the size of the cabinet, the number of minsters cannot be more than that of the strength of the assembly. Clashes have started between parties who fall short of a majority and have to take help from other parties or Independents.
Moreover, the probability is that Atanasio Babush Monseratte will demand the Town & Country TCP portfolio, as he is the favourite of builders. If the BJP gives Babush a cabinet berth will it deprive his wife Jennifer of portfolios like the revenue portfolio which she was handling. Or will the “Altar to Assembly” couple be carried forward to the cabinet also, in which case the BJP will have to reserve four seats for Vishwajit and his wife Divya, and Babush and Jennifer.
If the BJP decides to accommodate the Independents also, five of the 10 cabinet berths will go to its alliance partners and there will only be five left for BJP stalwarts. Which is perhaps why the BJP high command is finding it tough to decide who should be accommodated in the cabinet.

PRIYANKA IN UP
AND a few stray thoughts on the humiliation of Priyanka Vadra. The expectation was that Priyanka Vadra would be able to swing Uttar Pradesh and be able to win enough seats to form the government. Priyanka even went to the extent of giving 40 Congresswomen candidates tickets in the belief that they would vote for the Congress.
The historical myth is that Priyanka Gandhi would make a much better president to succeed Sonia Gandhi. Even political strategist Prashant Kishor reportedly told Sonia Gandhi that she should start projecting Priyanka Gandhi, who has reportedly inherited her grandmother Indira Gandhi’s charisma.
There is not much support within the Congress for Rahul Gandhi as he has lost every election that he was involved in. Besides of course the fact that he has the habit of running away on vacations abroad or vipassana sessions in Myanmar. Priyanka apparently has more winnable qualities as demonstrated by her involvement in the Uttar Pradesh elections.
Priyanka campaigned extensively and took on Narendra Modi upfront. She was even more aggressive than Akhilesh Yadav. However, the Uttar Pradesh results have been very demoralising for the Congress party. It is now clear that neither Priyanka nor Rahul have the winnability factor. The stature of a leader is his or her capacity to get a majority in every election they are promoting.
It is therefore not a matter of surprise that all three Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka have offered to step aside and take responsibility for the debacle in Uttar Pradesh. The group of 23 senior Congress leaders including Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor have constantly been demanding a change in leadership of the party. But there are many Congressmen who fear that if all the Gandhi family steps down, whatever is left of the party will also collapse.
This is not based on the crowd reality factor as the Congress party thrived and flourished when Narsimha Rao and Manmohan Singh took over prime ministership. Indeed, Sonia was commended for refusing the prime minister’s chair and making Manmohan Singh the prime minister, when the Congress won a majority. But what the Congress has to do on urgent basis is to appoint a president or chairperson. A headless party cannot be affective on this issue.

NO INTERNET!
AND a few stray thoughts on the shocking admission that only 11% of government primary schools in the state have internet connectivity. Consequently, for over two years, government schools have not imparted any education. We are all too familiar with images of government school students climbing trees or even mountains in search of connectivity.
Surely the Goa government should have made alternative arrangements for the students of government schools. Admittedly, there was huge increase in private schools and grants have also been renewed for schools run by clerical orders like Don Bosco, Pilar, etc. The fact remains that most students cannot afford private schools. Particularly in rural areas, there is no option for the underprivileged sections of society except to attend government schools. If Delhi can do it why can’t a small place like Goa do it?
There has been dramatic improvement in the standards of government schools in New Delhi under the Kejriwal government. Both by way of hardware and software the Delhi government schools now have smart teaching boards and a host of other facilities. These have been reflected in the results at SSC and HSCC level where government school students registered a higher pass percentage of 100%. The Delhi government schools also have a large number of rankers in the first 100 or even the first 20. The architect of the educational revolution in Delhi is Education Minister Manish Sisodia. In contrast, government schools in Goa are pathetic, with many of them suffering from a severe shortage of quality teachers.
There is a school in Dona Paula which conducts classes up to 10th standard, where all four classes from standards 1-4 are crowded into a single room with one common teacher. A large number of government schools are run from hired premises. Not surprisingly enrolment in government schools has been dropping sharply.
There was a time when there were more than a thousand government primary schools, most of them in Marathi. This was at the initiative of Dayanand Bandodkar, the first chief minister of Goa who empowered the children from the lower classes.

HERITAGE ZONE BUNGALOW
AND a last stray thoughts on the continuing delay in demolishing the huge palace built by NC Shaina, BJP spokesperson. This bungalow is very close to the Se Cathedral in Old Goa. The Aam Aadmi party tried to take political advantage with its chief minister designate Amit Palekar joining the hunger strike; several parishioners have also protested. However, despite the Panchayat ordering the demolition of the structure, no action has been taken.