By Rajan Narayan

BEFORE statehood there was relative political stability in Goa. Between 1962, when the first election was held and 1987, there were only three chief ministers. Dayanand Bandodkar, the first chief minister, was re-elected despite the defeat of the MGP in the Opinion Poll in 1967. When Dayanand Bandodkar died suddenly on August 12, 1973 his daughter Shashikala Kakodkar took his place as chief minister of Goa. Shashikala destroyed the Maharashtra Gomantak Party by her dictatorship.
Pratapsingh Raoji Rane, who was the revenue minister in Shashikala cabinet, has disclosed how miserable she made him feel. Not surprisingly, Shashikala was one of the few chief ministers who supported the Emergency declared by the late prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi.
Shashikala used the Emergency to target Opposition leaders. There was a revolt against the Shashikala government led by Pratapsingh Raoji Rane and two other ministers. In the meanwhile the majority of the United Goan MLAs defected and joined the Congress party. For the first time after the Liberation of Goa a Congress government was formed, 18 years afterwards.
Pratapsingh Raoji Rane became the Congress chief minister by default. Rane was the cat who stole away the chief minister’s kodel over which Babu Naik and Dr Wilfred D’Souza were fighting. The Congress High Command supported Rane even though it was Dr Wilfred D’Souza who led the Congress to victory. Pratapsingh Rane retained the chief ministership for over a decade.
Pratapsingh was the first chief minister after Goa achieved statehood in 1987. Churchill Alemao was than a Congress MLA and was very upset because he had not been given the sports portfolio. Instead, the sports portfolio went to Francisco Monte Cruz who had built the Fatorda Stadium. Churchill joined hands with Proto Barbosa, the then speaker of the legislative assembly of Goa. They managed to get Ramakant Khalap, MGP leader, to defect along with six other MLAs.
In politics of course anything is possible. So we had two bitter enemies of the language agitation, Churchill Alemao, the Konkaniwadi, and Ramakant Khalap, the Marathiwadi coming together to form the government. Churchill toppled the Rane government on March 27, 1990 and stepped down as chief minister on April 14, 1990.
Proto Barbosa could not become the chief minister immediately. This is because the speaker cannot defect from the party that he was elected to. There was a delay of 45 days during which Churchill appointed himself the chief minister. The “godfather general of goons” Churchill Alemao became the chief minister of Goa. The official residence of the chief minister in Altinho became an adda of notorious elements. The then SP of police Ranjit Narayan chased a gang of goons who escaped by entering into the residence of the chief minister. The residence of the chief minister was full of daru bottles when Churchill Alemao was chief minister.
To be fair Churchill resigned from the post of chief minister in favor of Dr Proto Barbosa who became chief minister on April 14, 1990. But the government was still controlled by Churchill Alemao. Ramakant Khalap was very frustrated and tried to topple the Churchill government. I remember that I used to spend several evenings with Ramakant Khalap at Vero Nunes’ Bambolim Beach Resort. Khalap was so obsessed with becoming chief minister that he had taken over an old Mercedes Benz used by Pratapsingh Raoji Rane when he was chief minister.
Prior to Liberation when there was no import duty on cars in Goa there was a flood of Mercedes Benz and Volkswagons. The Mercedes that Khalap grabbed was really a khatara. It used to break down frequently and I remember one occasion when Khalap and I along with others pushed the Mercedes up a slope in Dona Paula.
The Proto Barbosa United Front government was toppled by Dr Wilfred D’Souza who was then the president of the Congress on August 4, 1994 — he remained chief minister till December 16 1994. In the elections that followed Pratapsingh Raoji Rane became the chief minister again in December 1994 and was in power till July 1998. Dr Willy managed to get the remaining seven MLAs of the MGP to defect to the Congress. Ravi Naik the leader of the rebel group was offered the chief minister post. Ravi Naik used the opportunity to hit back at Churchill Alemao.
Ravi Naik had all the goonda in Goa arrested under the National Security Act. This included Rudolf Fernandes, now the Santa Cruz MLA and Churchill Alemao. Churchill went missing immediately after the arrest warrant went out. Churchill hid himself in one of the trawlers that he owned. Indeed, he met his newly-born son out at sea in a trawler where his son was taken for blessing. Finally, Churchill surrendered. I was present when Churchill surrendered to the inspector general of police at the police headquarters.
Joe D’Souza who was then the police inspector took Churchill Alemao to the Reis Magos jail. Incidentally, Rudolf Fernandes was also kept at the Reis Magos jail. Both Churchill and Rudolf got VIP treatment in the jail. They used to get Chinese food from Goenchin restaurant in Panaji. Both Churchill and Rudolf had to spend almost six months in jail. Under the National Security Act an accused could be kept for six months in jail without trial.
Ravi Naik was disqualified by the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court. Dr Wilfred D’Souza replaced Ravi Naik as chief minister in April 1994 and remained chief minister till December 1994. In the elections that followed Pratapsingh Raoji Rane again appointed the chief minister in December 1994. Rane was toppled by Dr Wilfred D’Souza in July 1998.
In a twist of destiny the disqualification of Ravi Naik was set aside by the Supreme Court. The then Governor Bhanu Pratap Singh, who was a good friend of Ravi Naik, sacked Dr Wilfred D’souza. Without consulting the Congress High Command Indira Gandhi the then Home Minister YB Chauhan, the governor dismissed Dr Willy and re-appointed Ravi Naik as the chief minister.
An angry Rajiv Gandhi sacked Ravi Naik and brought back Dr Wilfred D’souza. Ravi Naik was chief minister for only two days in his second stint as chief minister. Dr Wilfred D’Souza completed the remaining term. In the elections that followed Dr Willy masterminded the victory of the Congress. There was no opposition as the MGP had been destroyed by its leaders Ramakant Khalap and Ravi Naik. This paved the way for the BJP to enter Goan politics.
The toppling game intensified. After the elections in 1994 Pratapsingh Raoji Rane was appointed as the chief minister by the High Command in Delhi. An angry Wilfred D’Souza toppled the Rane government in July 1998. The Dr Willy government was toppled by Luizinho Falerio in November 1998. The Falerio government was defeated in a confidence vote leading to the imposition of President’s rule and in the elections that followed in 1999, Luizinho Falerio became the Congress chief minister.
Luizinho was toppled by Francisco Saldinha within five months of becoming the chief minister. Francisco Sardinha would remain chief minister for less than a year between November 24, 1999 and October 23, 2000. Sardinha had formed the government with the support of Manohar Parrikar and three other BJP MLAs elected for the first time. Sardinha paved the way for the BJP to come to power.
Manohar Parrikar was the chief minister from October 2000 to February 2005. The BJP lost the elections held in 2005 with Pratapsingh Raoji Rane returning as chief minister. Between April 1987 and October 2000, there were as many as 13 chief ministers as against just three chief ministers between 1961 and 1987.
In the 2005 election, Pratapsingh Rane again became chief minister but faced a revolt which led to President’s rule again. Rane returned to power in July 2005 and completed his term till July 2007. By then I had quit the OHeraldo as the editor and moved to start my own Goan Observer. We shall focus on the tenure of Digambar Kamat and the return of Manohar Parrikar in the next installment. Before Liberation the longest serving chief minister was Dayanand Bandodkar, he was the chief minister from December 12, 1963 to August 12, 1973.