Most Xaxtikars cozying up to new crop of leadersNeshwin Almeida | The Goan ,Margao07 September 2013 Pic Credit: Sagun GawadeMar far marlear marumBairo galleari dekhun galumEkuch utor sangattam aumTujea venem konu nam re mhonum You may shoot meYou may throw me outLet me just tell you one thingThere is nobody else other than you(Mando composed by Herminia da Veiga & Lourenco Estebeiro) Manohar Parrikar says Salcette loves him. This mando composed by a Xaxti couple years ago, should be music to his ears. The Mood of Goa survey gives the Chief Minister a backing across most parameters of governance. Yet this is a region which is reeling the heaviest due to the mining ban, blames him for his pro-Mopa airport stand and his inaction on the Regional Plan. To get a drift of why he stills leads in Salcette, read and hear the last line of the mando. There is no one else. Yet.Salcette – The land of extremes. The middle path is for those across the bridge. It is here that moderation takes a back seat as everything from food to gram sabhas to full throated agitations swing from black to white, but never grey.Manohar Parrikar is basking in those two colours. The five constituencies of South Goa covered in The Goan-Nielsen Mood of Goa survey went to Benaulim and Curtorim, two very good picks for tapping the Salcette mood and it’s clearly this, as the Mando we have picked to describe Xaxti’s passion – “Besides you, there is nobody else”.The Chief Minister has felt the love pangs. He told The Goan, reacting to the findings of the survey (see interview on page 3), “Salcette is in love with me”.For sure. “In the last government eight ministers including the Chief Minister were from Salcete. Despite the many assurances from Parrikar and some U-turns it’s not a surprise that Salcete people are happy with Parrikar,” said Trevor Pinto, an accounts professor from Salcete.A group of villagers from Benaulim camping in MLA Caitu’s office to get their works passed where quite confident that no government in Goa will be able to provide them a solution to garbage.The Congress meanwhile is in hibernation mode. Most of the heavy weight losers from the South like Aleixio Sequeira, Damu Naik, Joaquim Alemao and few others feel that this Assembly is very stable and will last its entire tenure. They therefore don’t see a need to make an appearance in their respective constituencies until 2015 as the next election is scheduled only in 2017.“Congress heavyweights, Churchill and Joaquim Alemao, Philip Neri Rodrigues and Aleixio Sequeira feel it’s a waste of time to step out and do people contact. It’s better to stick to the new lot of Benjamin, Caitu, Mickky and Rajan Naik since they are part of this government,” said Jayant Naik, a resident from Majorda-Utorda. Salcete gives its MLAs lots of time to perform, he added.But in what is quintessentially Salcette, every love story has a twist.Margao’s Alison Morenas says the parivartan government has not protected the heritage and ancient structures of Goa’s commercial city.“The old municipal building is coming up for demolition. Builders are replacing old heritage structures with new buildings while the authorities give permission to pull down these building, which is utterly unfair,” Morenas said.Here again, this reflects The Goan-Nielson Mood of Goa survey which mapped what irks Goans. And a tad surprisingly, after garbage, the failure to protect and promote heritage showed a satisfaction level of just 14%, one of the lowest among 25 top issues which irk Goans (see page 4 of The Goan anniversary issue, July 27) This is where this romance becomes interesting. It is Salcette and by stretching it to parts of Cortalim and Verna, which demanded that the regional plan be made open to the public, which rose against the manner of land acquisition at Mopa and backed a movement by father Eremito Rebelo against Mopa and for maintaining the Dabolim airport.But Salcette has had a disappointing tryst with the past which forced them to give Parrikar the mandate he got. This isn’t quite the time for chance. It doesn’t come easy. But as The Goan moved through homes in villages, it got one refrain. This is a Goa which is not sitting back. Every day and in every which way people are taking stock of a government they have created. They expect access, transparency and delivery.If the Chief Minister is at a traffic junction and looking at the traffic lights, he can bask in the glow of the green but it’s the yellow light he should watch out for. It can turn either way to green or red. For the moment though, the Parrikar vehicle can pass in Salcette.
