Truth of Cortalim is in the past Monday's political machiavellianism at Cortalim brings to mind a carbon copy enactment years ago at Navelim Assembly constituency, when Churchill Alemao intervened to ensure that his then chum Luizinho Faleiro was elected unopposed. On that occasion, Alemao ensured that all opponents contesting against Faleiro in that elections withdrew from the election fray, thereby ensuring a walk-over for Falerio, resulting in the latter getting elected unopposed.
The technique employed at Navelim is similar to the one repeated at Cortalim on Monday. Though not new, it is a disturbing trend, which makes a mockery of democracy and fair play, and adds a subverting dimension to Goan electoral politics. It was widely believed that apart from veiled and even direct threats issued to opponents, the opponents are infused with Vitamin M, in a bid to ensure that they withdrew from the electoral contest. Lately however, apart from the candidates being rewarded with manna, party leaders too seem to be beneficiaries of such arrangements. We are not certain if the same modus operandi was used by the BJP to get the opponents to Alina Saldanha to withdraw from the race at Cortalim. But, it would appear to anyone, with a head on his shoulders, that Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho had a vital role in ensuring the withdrawal of the Congress nominee Raymond D'Sa and Independent Ramakant Borkar from the contest. Now, Congress High Command emissaries are groping for alibis to establish why Raymond D'Sa withdrew from the race. Would they and the high command have the courage to open up the story as to how a little known person was foisted as a Congress candidate in the March elections against Matanhy Saldanha? On that occasion, the action surprised everybody, and it was widely believed that Godinho had forged a reciprocal understanding with the BJP to field a weak candidate against Matanhy, and in turn, the BJP would foist a weak candidate against Godinho at Dabolim. That Congress candidate Caetano Xavier eventually later lost even the panchayat elections and emerged fourth in the ward garnering just 64 votes! If the Congress High Command is serious and committed to arrest the malaise affecting the party and unravel the 'mysteries' of the election debacle in March, the Defence Minister A K Anthony Committee study report on the reasons for the defeat of the Congress, should be cast into the dust bin. What the party ought to have done is to ascertain how some party leaders initiated efforts in their self-interest, sacrificing party interest. Another case of such deals appears to be the truck between Manohar Parrikar and Babush Monserratte this year when a weak candidate was fielded in Panjim against Parrikar, and in return, the BJP foisted a weak alliance candidate at Santa Cruz against Monseratte. There is an excellent precedent of such type of match-fixing: In yet another case in the past involving Parrikar contesting Panjim seat, the Congress deliberately foisted a weak candidate in the person of Ramesh Silimkhan. This was despite the fact that it was known that Slimkhan was close to Parrikar, and, in fact, Parrikar had made him the Mayor of Panjim earlier. As expected, Silimkhan failed to have a public election meeting worth the name in Panjim, and it was widely claimed that on Election Day, he was no where around, thereby offering a cake-walk victory to Parrikar. Of course, an element of blackmail, as hinted at by the Congress emissary also played a vital role in the ultimate result. Godinho's utterances are an excuse because certainly Godinho had asked D'Sa to withdraw from the race. What we saw on the TV, with Raymond proclaiming that no Congress leader expressed support is part of the game. Though electorate goes through brief spells of euphoria as it happened at the assembly election, Goan polity has fallen to the ground with a thud with such match fixing. Two things are evident from this development that --in politics there are no saviours and deceit is part of politics. It’s time the trumpet section stopped their mindless accolades and woke up to reality. http://www.heraldgoa.in/newpage.php?month=5&day=23&year=2012&catid=15