STRATEGY: The strategy of the BJP for winning elections is revealed by the fact that they have started preparations for winning back the South Goa parliamentary seats which they lost in the last election. Amit Shah is expected to be in Goa on Sunday, April 16, 2023.

By Rajan Narayan

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when Home Minister Amit Shah revealed why he was the master planner. For a Saturday following the week when on the revelation that over 300 Goans, men and women, died of cirrhosis of the liver. For a Saturday following the week when the first of its kind Cashew Festival has been organized by the Goa Forest Development Corporation in capital city Panaji on Saturday, April 15, 2023. For a Saturday following the week when the G20 Summit meetings will take place in Goa.
AND a few stray thoughts on Home Minister Amit Shah who revealed why he is the master planner. When it comes to elections it is Amit Shah, who not only chooses the candidates but does booth-level planning. If the BJP has been winning the election it is due to the very advanced planning that it undertakes.
For instance, the BJP has already started preparations for the South Goa Lok Sabha seat which it lost in the last election. It may be recalled that the BJP candidate Narendra Savoikar was defeated by veteran Congressman Francisco Sardinha. Though the elections are only in May 2024 Home Minister Amit Shah will be launching the BJP campaign from Farmagudi in May 2023. With the Opposition coming together to defeat the BJP, Amit Shah does not want to lose a single seat. The party has identified 100 parliamentary constituencies that BJP can bring back. The advantage that BJP has is that a former chief minister of Goa, Digambar Kamat, is now part of the BJP.
Admittedly Narendra Savoikar was not a very strong candidate. Relatively Digambar Kamat is popular with both majority and minority communities. Irrespective of who is chosen as a BJP candidate, the meticulous planning of the BJP is dramatized by its early preparations almost a year ahead before the elections are scheduled.
The BJP is confident of winning North Goa parliamentary elections. Former AYUSH minister and current Tourism, Ports, Shipping & Waterways Minister Shripad Naik has retained North Goa in four successive elections. But South Goa has been predominantly a Congress seat for its Catholic majority. To Amit Shah it must be a challenge to get the BJP elected in a Catholic majority constituency. But he may have to apologize for the anti-Catholic activities of the Bajrang Dal and other RSS associates.

CIRRHOSIS OF LIVER
AND a few stray thoughts on the revelation that over 300 people Goans, men and women, die of cirrhosis of the liver annually. All 300 who died of alcoholic addiction and not necessarily because of drunken driving. A lot of Goans, particularly of the lower middle class and the tribal classes, die of cirrhosis of the liver. In many other tribal villages unschooled men do not do any work but drink themselves to death.
Even when it comes to the middle class and the rich, Goans believe that they have a much bigger tank than that of tourists. That their capacity to perform both on and off the road is not impaired by drinking. I have had the terrifying experience of being driven by two drunk doctors, one of whom was a former dean of the GMC in the 1990s. They insisted that nothing would happen to them.
Most friends consider having four to five pegs liquor imbibing as safe and even boast that they drive better when they are drunk. There is another dimension which has not been highlighted. There are a number of single women living in old ancestral houses in Goa who have been more or less abandoned by their children. Their only relief from boredom and loneliness is engaging in drinking. This was dramatized by a study conducted by a senior member of a sociology faculty who reported a large number of single senior women citizens drinking alcohol to fight loneliness.
It is possible that Goans and particularly Catholic Goans have a greater capacity for liquor than outsiders. This is because they have been used to imbibing liquor right from their teens at every Catholic event, whether it’s Christmas or New Year, any celebration is incomplete without wine and hard liquor.
But even with the Goan capacity to pack away liquor, there has to be a limit. Driving after more than three drinks can be very dangerous. In fact, you may be completely sober. But there is no guarantee that the other drivers on the road are equally sober. Distressingly, Goa witnesses dozens of hit-and-run accidents caused by drunk drivers.
Most who drink immoderately may not be conscious that the liver is one of the toughest yet most vulnerable organ of the human body. Hospitals are overburdened by kidney and liver failure patients. Patients admitted with cirrhosis of the liver have to spend a long time in hospital, taking up valuable bed space. GMC data reveals that up to 5,500 patients are admitted to GMC every month for alcohol-related problems.

CASHEW FESTIVAL IS HERE!
AND a few stray thoughts on the First Cashew Fest organized on April 15 at the Dayanan Bandodkar Grounds of Campal in Panaji. Cashew feni has been promoted very actively by the government ever since it received its GI tag. The GI tag refers to the geographical index certificate given to specific products of a specific area. For instance the word feni or fenny cannot be used by anyone outside Goa who makes similar cashew liquor. A similar example would be whiskey made in Scotland, only this is recognized as Scotch.
From the sound of it the Goa’s government powers-that-be are determined to divert the attention of the people from rising prices, dug up roads, collapsible Atal Sethu bridge and double-trackign down south Goa. For the benefit of the Gautam Adani the railways are doubling tracks, which means laying a parallel track to increase the capacity to carry coal arriving at MPT in Goa to Karnataka where the Adani and Jindal factories are located.
In the past while events like Heritage Day were celebrated locally, now every festival has become a gala mela. I suppose the government tires easily and it is now decided that the people are tired of millet festivals. The millet festival has been celebrated several times by various departments, including Agricultural and even Food & Drugs Administration.
The upcoming Cashew Fest is expected to be a mega event on the lines of the old Great Grape Escapade festivals in Nasik, Maharashtra. This time besides for the Cashew Festival feni or fenny tasting and feni cocktails will be promoted and there will be an exciting and adventurous cashew apple stomping session. The government has invited Goa’s “Nightingale” Lorna to come and add glamor to the event by singing her famous songs.
The real irony in all this is there is a severe shortage of cashew nuts in the state. Goa cannot meet the demand for Goan cashew nuts. Therefore all kinds of Goans and non-Goans have started importing cashew nuts from Africa and Vietnam-Cambodia countries…the raw nuts are imported for processing in Kerala and Goa and it is these imported cashew nuts which are mostly passed off as Goan cashew nuts to tourists seeking Goan cashewnuts. I hear that there are even badly processed version of tukda cashew nuts which can cause health problems upon their consumption.
Albeit all that is happening in the cashew industry in the state the government of Goa is trying hard and its aim is to promote tourism along with cashew and millet festivals. However, in the case of cashew feni the credit must go to Hansel and Mac Vaz for getting Goa’s much loved liquor feni a GI tag. Goans of course have grown up imbibing local liquor feni and in fact many families consider feni has medicinal value and babies may be given a taste of it on occasion.

G20 IS HERE
AND a few stray thoughts on the forthcoming G20 Summit meets in Goa from April 17 to 19, 2023. G-20 for the benefit of those who may not be in touch with international politics refers to a group of the most powerful countries in the world, including the United States, the UK, Australia, China and Russia. This time I hear it will also include Ukraine and this may result in some fireworks between Russia and Ukraine.
One of the major issues which will be in focus during the G-20 meets is the subject of health. Clearly G-20 is a major international event and such events will bring to Goa some high-powered delegates, officials, representatives. Goa must present its best face and pictures. The G-20 schedule from April 17 to 19 starting coming Monday should have been postponed till Goa’s roadways infrastructure was in shape and smart city Panaji looking smart instead of a bombed out city.
I am told a lot of money is being spent on whitewashing and decorating Goa for the G-20 summit. Cathedrals are being white-washed. The whole Old Goa area will be dressed up because it may be on the list of VIP visitors for visiting. Unlike in the case of CHOGM long ago the G-20 visitors must not think that Goa resembles bombed-out Ukraine.