- Shri Arvind Kejriwal ji & Shri .Manish Sisodia ji
Aam Aadmi Party. New Delhi INDIA
The announcement by Shri Sisodia ji that AAP on its own steam will be
contesting 40 Legislative Assembly seats in Goa at the next electoral hustings
in March 2022 is a joke. The ground swell opinion as given to understand to
this writer after several interactions with voters of all denominations young
and old, across the state clearly reveal discreetly that the party leadership
in Goa has been taken over by the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin or Bhat Brahmin
community overtly or covertly sidelining others who earlier mainly
minority community that called the shots.
Mr Sisodia ji should understand that there is a virtual divide between the
----voters----- of the Old conquest talukas (1510-1961) and the New Conquests
talukas (1763 to 1961) viz the coastal ,midland ,and western ghat talukas .
Then the other issues in the political primer in Goa is the "bahujan" and
'non bahujan' segments the votaries of Konkani language in"nagari " / english
script ...
No doubt every Goan speaks Konkani the inclinations towards the Konkani english
version phonetic and the miniscule "nagari " Konkani remain a broad
divide...especially after the official language act 1987 was passed. The
Marathi votaries also speak Konkani as their mother tongue doubt but for
political reasons will always swear only by Marathi and never Konkani in
"nagari" script . The fact that they are comfortable with Konkani compulsory
for Govt jobs but accepted the status of Marathi as desirable is a pointer in
this direction.
Then and now sixty years post liberation or call it what you like .... the
"Bhatkar" and 'Mundcar" mindset has still ceased to bring unify among the
Goan voter. No doubt the former has reached the nadir and reflect only the
embers of the past rule and are a fading lot but the latter being economically
empowered looks to switch into the bandwagon of the former but their mindset
remains largely unchanged..
Mr Sisodia would do well to understand the "AJEEB" goan nature a sobriquet
used by our late Pt J Nehru when the 28 INC candidates lost their deposits
at the first electoral hustings post Liberation. Much later in the eighties
the Goa Congress Party a regional outfit who assumed they would be in the
treasury benches at the height of the Konkani agitation ..... which out beat
even the otherwise peaceful Opinion Poll of 1967 to decide merger with
Maharashtra or otherwise ended up as wishful thinking with just one being
declared elected unopposed and had to grace the non treasury benches.
Mr. Sisodia should also know that all those who call them selves Goans ...
many have changed names and surnames to Goan names ...but are largely those
domiciled in Goa ...... unless AAP can assure a minimum of atleast 7 seats of
the 21 required of a simple majority to be on the treasury benches this
segment will go by those who have been tested and tried thus far and would
never gamble for instability or a hotch potch combine. by voting for AAP.
Delhi is largely cosmopolitan and most voters are migrants from the erstwhile
BIMARU states viz Bihar Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and now
includes the states split to carve out Jarkhand Chattisgarh Uttaranchal and
their basic concerns were power water supply housing health care ... and
corruption in routine administrative work .. which AAP has definitely changed
over the six years they are in power except the dual status on the law and
order front a sobriquiet it has earned of being the rape capital of India.
The economic down turn since March 2020 is clearly a pointer that stability is
the norm and thats it.
Now AAP being in the State for well over 5 years now .... the first sight of
"topiwallahs' with even the Goan made to wear a "topi ' did cause an
undercurrent among the Opinion Poll voters for though they still admire Shri
Arvind Kejriwal ,,.. the fear that a victory to AAP then would result in
revival of the mergerist proposal caused the uncertainity . Ofcourse not all
crowds can be converted into votes. Moreover the AAP failed miserably at
selecting the candidates then and those who had not even learnt to swim in
their bath tubs, or those rejected by the voters alone were chosen as
potential candidate.. This writer had pointed out to Mr. Arvind Kejrival
following a one to one meet at Our Lady of Grace Church Hall Margao on the
evening of 24 August 2016 that AAP would lose its deposits in March 2017
Assembly Elections and it happened.
Mr. Sisodia should have also realised that post Manohar G P Parrikar and
emergence of Dr Pramod Sawant an offspring of a migrant family now
domiciled in Goa for well over 50 years had ruffled the aspiration of the 3 %
GSBs because Dr Sawant began the purge of this community wittingly or
unwittingly beginning with the then Adv Atmaram Nadkarni and later began to
clean the stable of his legislative party by unseating from his cabinet Mr
Rohan Khaunte Independent MLA Porvorim Mr Vijay Sardessai MLA Goa Forward Party
Fatorda Mr. Sudin Dhavalikar MLA MGP MadkaiAND cleverly left the INC with only
the last 5 in the opposition headed by Mr Digamber Kamat INC MLA Margao as
LOO .by getting a sizeable INC, Independent and MGP, MLAs on to his
bandwagon.
It may be of interest to note that being just 3 percent of the population the
GSB, Bhat Brahmans had also coveted every Govt job and ensured the Govt
became a bastion for their relatives and wives only. To reaffirm this
charge Mr Sisodia should boldly announce that AAP will contemplate giving only
ONE JOB PER FAMILY ' which was there some time back, and the entire citadel of
AAP will collapse and vanish. Among industries it is Zuari Agro Chemicals
which under the then trade union leader Mr L Faleiro now INC introduced one job
for family there.
The present AAP cleverly ousted Mr Elvis Gomes and ex govt employee who quit
to be projected as the CM candidate but lost miserably and is now relegated
to grass root level and apparently finally left out in the cold.
Now the Mahambres, Tilves, & Vinayak Naik actually Nayak ( a self confessed
beef eater he made this statement at a public meet on Lohia Maidan) GSBs .
They despite being just 3% of the 15 lac odd population of Goa are the
supporters of Konkani only in 'nagari script who had cunningly inserted in
the Official language bill passed on 4 Feb 1987 the words ...in devanagari
script....which has alienated the 27% Catholic community in Goa from the
language of their mother tongue Konkani which is spoken written also used in
cultural purposes and even on the electoral or public notices till this date
with phonetic adopting the English script not "nagiri."
They have also apparently fooled AAP Mr Sisodia to have a Chair for Konkani
(in nagari script ) in Delhi University so that language does not become an
issue at the March 2022 Goa Assembly Elections.
So AAP should read this writing on the wall or they suffer another electoral
debacle at the hustings.and may have to pack up lock stock and barrel and
restrict themselves to National Capital Territory and New Delhi .
Traditionally in Parliamentary politics the South Goa District is a bastion of
the GSB - Catholic combine as if made for each other ...albeit religious
tolerance not to be mistaken for communal harmony and the North Goa District
Bahujan samaj - non Brahmin community The last embers of the MGP Bahujan
samaj - non Brahmin community is now headed by the Bhat Brahmin brothers and
have their base restricted to a few pockets in about 3 four constituencies.
Is the voter in Goa to assume that with the INC now literrally headless moreso
post 2nd May 21 will the AAP replace the INC vote bank will the be able to wind
up the regional outfits with a quid pro qua deal?
Both Kejriwal and Sisodia should have taken pains to understand the ground
reality in Goa before making the announcement that they will go it alone. The
last nail in the coffin will be immediately after the announcement of the CM
candidate. Once bitten twice shy and Elvis Gomes blunder hope does not get
repeated. With many resignations of past AAP members who were starved for funds
....and the new regional groups of civil society trying to test their prowess
at the hustings over the emotive support not votes against the three linear
projects which will with genuine grievances sorted see the light of the day
the AAP needs to redraw their plans on the drawing tables.
How many seats has it contested in ZP and Municipal elections and won on the
party ideology or was it a case of the right candidate who earned it on its own
charisma at the ZP elections in Benaulim only a restrospection will answer
this. And why did AAP not take this opportunity at least for a litmus test in
the 23 April 21 of 5 Municipal body polls forllowing the judgement of the SC
on delimitation?
Godfrey J I Gonsalves cyber journo social activist Borda Margao Goa
+91 9822158584 (24 hrs) gonsalvesgodfre...@yahoo.co.in
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