In an age where our politicians will do everything under the sun to grab and cling on to power, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi has shown an unparalleled commitment to the country by selflessly declining to accept the position of Prime Minister. It would be nice to see more leaders willing to resist the temptation of the chair and volunteer to do organizational work, something a party like Congress in particular desperately needs.
It was disheartening to see MPs playing tantrums and lobbing for cabinet berths and some of them jockeying for particular portfolios. It shows that they want plum positions for ulterior and selfish motives otherwise they should have accepted any position bestowed on them by the Prime Minister. Our own Churchill Alemao also joined the queue. The priests in Goa might have helped him get elected but their prayers may not have been enough to see another miracle. In a way Churchill must be content as an MP and concentrate on strengthening the party in Goa. He may not have had the language and administrative skills required to be a Central Minister. Laloo Yadav being a double graduate may find the sailing rough himself. There are no crash courses for enabling the MP to acquire the skills required to be a successful Minister otherwise Churchill would have been the first to enroll. Churchill's 10-second speech at the Congress Parliamentary party in the Central Hall of Parliament on May 18th has left a lot to be desired. It was a speech Churchill Alemao will regret having made. It must have not impressed Sonia Gandhi the least, especially coming from an MP from India's No 1 state. Churchill's inefficiency may not be the only reason that Sonia denied him a ministerial berth. Sonia and the other leaders must be doubting his loyalty to the party. Churchill till recently had been hob-nobbing with the BJP leaders and has enjoyed Chief Minister Parrikar's largesse. Sonia decided to listen to her inner voice and decline a position of power. Ambika Soni followed suit. Will some of the Congress leaders in Goa follow suit instead of all aspiring to the Chief Minister's chair? The chair may have four legs but can accommodate only one is something the Congressmen seem unable to digest. Now Mrs. Gandhi will have to give her attention to settling the affairs of the Goa unit of the Congress. Mr. Pratapsingh Rane should be told in no uncertain terms to make his choice. He cannot have his cake and eat it. He's had the best of two worlds for too long. Life has been shinning for the Ranes and their feel good factor is there to see. All good things have to come to an end. The sooner the better. A tough decision for the Congress but one they cannot afford to delay any longer. The BJP, which has been badly bruised, must still be recovering from the nightmares of defeat. The party knows very well that Atal Behari Vajpayee is their only hope so in all probability will foist him as leader of Opposition and deny the former Prime Minister the rest and retirement he so very much merits. Bharat Uday yatra and the high tech multi crore-election campaign by the BJP could not brainwash the people of India. "India Shinning" and "feel good factor" are phrases this election will be remembered for. The BJP knows it cannot survive without Atal Behari Vajpayee. The party was expecting to win the elections by projecting Vajpayee as PM but after elections installing Advani as PM, someone not acceptable to any secular Indian. Advani who has his very fundamentalist ideologies has a giant share to play in sowing the seeds of communal disharmony in our nation. The BJP projecting Vajpayee, as a secular person did not work as his true colours showed up and the people of world's biggest democracy could not be taken for a ride. Manmohan Singh has a very balanced cabinet. All regions have been accommodated. Minorities and backward communities have been well represented. It would have been nice to see more women and youth inducted. But the Prime Minister knows what best for our country and of course his political compulsion and other limitations must have been taken into consideration. The recent election saw a quite a bit of party hopping and migration. Many who were lured into joining the BJP on being promised something or the other may be having second thoughts. Businessmen will have nothing to lose as they usually have half a foot in every party. So for them the sun shines whoever wins. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has to be commended for unanimously choosing Dr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. He is one, if not the only clean, impeccable and stain-free politician. In fact he is more of an administrator than a politician. So in a way Mrs. Gandhi evolved the right strategy, a good arrangement, by proposing Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. She will galvanize and strengthen the party base something she has remarkably achieved. Dr Manmohan Singh’s government will have the initial teething aches and pains any government especially a coalition of so many parties is bound to have. The BJP while in power acted very irresponsible in viscously saffronising and virtually communally tearing our country apart. Let us hope that now in Opposition they would shoulder their task with responsibility by acting as a fair watchdog to ensure that the United Progressive Alliance government does not deviate from its agenda and commit any illegalities. Aires Rodrigues Ribandar ____________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! 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