The friendly face of corruption in Goa Devika Sequeira devikaseque...@gmail.com
Apart from the Congress' defence of Digambar Kamat, and the party's commitment to stand by its former chief minister in the Louis Berger accusations, there've been practically no sound bytes from the political class to either censure or applaud the police action against the two politicians. In Churchill Alemao's case, his legal team, family and hangers-on are the only ones who've been rallying round him, leaving the once weighty politician looking somewhat isolated. Some would argue that Alemao has only himself to blame for his current isolation. His most recent political sojourn had him jumping into -- of all parties -- the Trinamool Congress. That move, prompted by his peeve against the Congress party for not giving in to his demand to field his daughter Valanka for the Lok Sabha poll last year, defines Alemao's maverick three and half decades in politics which have been governed mostly by a self-serving agenda. 'Make me and my brother Joaquim ministers, or we'll bring down your government...'. 'Give Valanka the ticket, or I'll contest against your official candidate and help the BJP...' The Congress Party has been the worst casualty of this constant arm-twisting—and deservedly so, for bending over backward to accommodate him. Though Alemao is being implicated in the current payoffs case for his tenure in a Congress government, the party must be truly relieved it doesn't have to come to his defence as a party man. Perhaps it should thank Valanka Alemao for her overreaching political ambition. Churchill's closest supporters are clutching the hope that there might after all be a positive outcome to his current discomfiture and political low. The unfolding graft case, the manner of his midnight arrest and his being lodged in custody by the police could translate into a sympathy wave for him in the next election, they believe. While a more urban and educated voter might be repulsed by corruption, rural Goa -- constituencies like Benaulim, Navelim, Nuvem, Taleigao -- is often dismissive of it. There's probably some truth in this. How else does one explain the electoral successes of people like Mickky Pacheco, Babush Monserrate, Mauvin Godinho? Digambar Kamat and Churchill Alemao couldn't have been more unalike. Alemao's large personality comes with a grassroots appeal and charisma that has seen him often turn the tables on more educated politicians. Kamat, on the other hand, a backroom player, has used cunning, guile and astute compromise (his Brahmin genes, his critics would say) to get to where he is, and survive a whole term as chief minister. But both pride themselves on being "accessible" to their constituents and to the public at large. One can walk into Digambar's sitting room in Margao, just as one can with Churchill in Varca. The bonhomie that exudes from such accessibility can often blunt public perception of corruption in politics. This is no sinister Vyapam scandal where scores of witnesses and participants are being bumped off like skittles dropping off a bowling alley. This is the soft and friendly face of an elected representative who might have occasionally put his hand out behind our backs. It is often argued that graft is the necessary evil of politics in this country, and we just have to learn to live with it. But the biting fact is that it is political greed that has impeded development on every front in Goa, putting it on the irreversible path to ruination. It is why we will never resolve such a small matter as getting rid of our garbage, the wilful destruction of our beaches and the deliberate and tedious impediments to everyday living for common people. Worse yet is that worthless progeny of politicians have been brought up to believe that inducements are an entitlement of their political lineage. The corrosion does indeed run deep. The BJP which has been accused of putting the Goa Watergate case on overdrive to deflect attention from the far more serious Vyapam racket has been sitting smugly on the sidelines of the Louis Berger investigations. Its recent move to reward Mauvin Godinho -- who was dragged to the courts by former chief minister Manohar Parrikar over the multi-crore power rebate racket -- with the chairmanship of the South Goa Planning and Development Authority exposes the saffron party's hypocrisy on the issue of corruption. Who's to say Kamat and Alemao will not be "absolved" in the same cynical manner before the next election? There may actually be a rainbow at the end of this storm for the Congress. Here's an opportunity for the party to clean up its act. There’s a valid reason to keep Churchill and clan -- not to mention Godinho and Monserrate -- out of the picture. But can the Congress be expected to ever make the right moves? [Times of India, August 12, 2015]