https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/opinion-the-legacies-of-an-uncomplicated-manohar-parrikar-1552938370067.html
Contradictions characterize the life story and political trajectory of Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar, who was cremated yesterday with full state honours in Panjim, the pocket-sized capital city he represented for 25 years (with a short break as Narendra Modi’s Defense Minister) in the state he dominated throughout the 21stcentury. His personal rectitude was unimpeachable, yet flamboyant criminality flourished under his watch. He loved Goa with touching sincerity, but also fostered immensely grave threats that continue to imperil its social, cultural and environmental wellbeing. His easy-going charm held no communal edge, but he leaves India’s smallest state polarized like never before since decolonization, with its famously tolerant atmosphere vitiated near breaking point. It’s an unexpectedly tragic legacy for one of India’s brightest political stars, who debuted with seemingly unlimited promise in 1994 as the very first IIT graduate to achieve elected office. In those initial years charged with energy and full of optimism, Parrikar drew immediate national attention for his technocratic approach, hard work and casual mastery of subject materials. In 2000, he became Chief Minister for the first time, but even when Leader of the Opposition remained all-powerful in the state polity. All the while, his status within the BJP grew. In 2009, it was the Goan who heralded Narendra Modi’s rise to party leadership with the ungentle jibe, “Pickle tastes good when it is left to mature for a year. But if you keep it for more than two years, it turns rancid. Advaniji’s period is more or less over.” Parrikar’s plain-speaking modesty had irresistible appeal, both in Goa and on the national stage. But that self-effacing mien was deceptive, because alongside came an unshakeable belief in his own abilities that often crossed the line to arrogance. He found it very difficult to countenance rivals within his party, and comprehensively failed to nurture the next generation of politicians. This meant outright disaster the moment his grasp on power weakened, following the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (which was hidden from the public for almost a year) in early 2018. From that moment, warring factions in his uneasy coalition battled openly against each other, as well as party leadership. Their fractious inability to settle on any replacement forced the dramatically weakening 63-year-old to continue in office until the bitter end. Zoom focus into Panjim, which fell hard for Manohar Parrikar in 1994 and returned him back to office every time he faced elections, and it’s clear the electorate’s longstanding loyalty is now laced with disappointment. The residents of this famously pretty riverside city have seen their gracious way of life severely degraded. They remember the BJP leader railing against casinos in 2012, as “a social evil” he would eradicate, then reversing gears immediately after being elected. The main casino owner occupied a prime seat at Parrikar’s inauguration, and it’s widely understood the chief minister’s personal fiat allowed the universally reviled gambling boats to stay, eventually mushrooming their neon footprint all along the city waterfront. In recent months, as the man at the helm visibly faded, citizens of Panjim watched in shock as outrageously incompetent proxies ran roughshod, with especially egregious havoc wrought in the name of “Smart City”. Millions of dollars have been squandered with no appreciable results, as prime heritage buildings like the 500-year-old Adil Shah Palace were hijacked by highly dubious bureaucrats and cronies operating with impunity, without any semblance of accountability. In this way, huge damage was done to the reputation of Manohar Parrikar, while the man himself lay almost helpless in his sickbed. It’s one of the saddest, most shameful final chapters in the history of Indian democracy.