* By Nisser Dias 26th Sept 2013* * *
*New breed of BJP MLAs. They speak their mind.* The outburst of the San Andre MLA Vishnu Wagh against his own government particularly targeting the chief minister Manohar Parrikar has cast serious doubts about the manner the administration in the state is being run. He has rightly drawn a comparison between the previous Congress regime lead by Digambar Kamat and the current dispensation. He is of course not alone in his crusade against his own government. Calangute BJP MLA Michael Lobo also has voiced similar concerns earlier. The latter had gone to the extent of stating that the law and order in the state is dismal and needs to be improved. During the Digambar Kamat regime, Parrikar as an Oppostion Leader kept on harping that the law and order had collapsed. It has now come to haunt him and even worse is the fact his own party-men are saying it in public thereby embarrassing the government. These outbursts give new dimensions to the functioning of the chief minister which is always seen as autocratic or one man rule. At the same time it exposes that Parrikar is losing his iron grip over his party-man and the fear they had of him earlier is waning off. In 2002 or 2004 during his stint as chief minister none of the ministers or MLAs had the courage to stand up to him nor had they the guts to voice dissent against his decisions be it at party forums or publicly but now that seems to be a thing of the past. Vishnu Wagh and Michael Lobo are made of a different mould who have the nerve to speak their mind. They are of a different breed who will call a spade a spade. I might not agree with both the demands of the San Andre MLA since education in English is a demand of a large section of parents all over the state and resumption of a cruel sport of bullfights which the Supreme Court has banned for the sadistic pleasure of few is also not acceptable. But the manner in which he has ridiculed the government is keeping in line with the sentiments voiced by Digambar Kamat when he was deserting the BJP. Wagh has not stopped just there he went many steps ahead to say that the state is currently under the rule of the rich. This is quite a pertinent statement specially because at a public meeting on mining recently chief minister stopped short of attacking the mine owners for their involvement in illegal mining and amassing wealth and instead attacked environmentalist for having knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court to stop illegal mining and destruction of environment or the natural beauty of Goa. More than a year and half back when Manohar Parrikar took over the reigns of the state he had promised to streamline the administration to make it people friendly but in none of the government departments can one notice a change. Police functioning is still lethargic and their overall performance is abysmal. Promises by the chief minister are galore but they continue to be only promises, short term solutions are plenty but no legislations, school children are still getting poisoned after consuming mid-day meals, there is no change in syllabus but there is extension of school timings. Promises of increasing of agriculture produce are floating in the air but production has dropped compared to earlier five years. The list can go on and on. BJP MLA Vishnu Wagh was right in saying that pall of gloom has descended on Goa as it doesn’t seem to be moving ahead. To add to the chief minister’s woes one of the allies former Tourism minister and GVP MLA Mickky Pacheco also dropped another bombshell. As chairman of the Assembly committee probing the alleged drug trade nexus between politicians and drug lords he accused the police department of non co-operation. Which translates into non co-operation by the Home ministry a portfolio held by the chief minister. The question that arises is, are the police withholding the information at the instance of the Home minister? On the face of it, it seems so. And if it is so then the Assembly committee is just a farce to pull wool over the eyes of the public and keep the accused politicians on a tight leash. It is indeed sad state of affairs under this government where transparency, sanctity, truth and trust have no place. The government was brought to power on the premise that it would clean up the administration, improve law and order, bring all those who have looted and raped Goa to amass illegal wealth through various means to justice, recover losses to the exchequer to the tune of thousands of crores but over the 18 months nothing has changed and in future it does not look like that it will change. It is our fate. How true is the saying, “we get the government we elect”. In my opinion things are not going to change in Goa till the Congress led alliance rules at the Centre but if the reigns of governance are handed over to the BJP after the 2014 Parliamentary elections, matters are likely to take a drastic change. Vishnu Wagh, Michael Lobo and Mickky Pacheco will not have a cosy atmosphere to air their views publicly against the government. *Send your comments/reactions to **nisserd...@gmail.com*<nisserd...@gmail.com> * Or SMS 9422437029)* -- Nisser