WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE Margaret Mascarenhas
Who=92s sorry now So now we know. We know that the Goan electorate is a lot more politically= =20 savvy than the parties give them credit for. We know that Goans have once=20 again delivered a fractured mandate, and left the Assembly hung out to dry.= =20 In the process; regional parties made a bit of a come-back and the national= =20 parties were taught a lesson. The Congress learned that most people are sick of the same robber barons,=20 and that relying exclusively on the communal card to win votes is really=20 stupid. The NCP learned that 1 out of 15 is a joke and that they had=20 better come up with an election agenda that isn=92t complete gibberish. The= =20 BJP learned to pay as much attention to Fundamental Rights as to=20 fundamentalists, not to count their chickens before they hatch, and that=20 arrogance is not bliss. For some reason Dr Willy de Sousa, the NCP=92s one-man-show, continues to=20 insist that his own version of politics does not constitute=20 defection. Which has led me to the conclusion that the doctor could use an= =20 English lesson. The standard dictionary definition of defection is:=20 desertion/abandonment of one=92s leader, or side, or cause. That is to say:= =20 it is the act of departing, not the destination, that is relevant. Whether= =20 one leaves to join another party or to form a new one, has nothing to do=20 with the price of tea in China. Leaving, quite simply, constitutes=20 defection, not to mention a betrayal of the electorate. I can=92t be=20 positive, but I=92d be willing to wager that under this definition, Dr Willy= =20 is the biggest defector on Planet Earth. Also: if he wants to be Speaker,= =20 it might be a good idea for him to learn the meanings of words. Incidentally, =93winnability=94 is not a word. And, speaking of words, while the heat was on, veteran columnist Mario=20 Cabral e Sa likened the antics of Goa=92s political hopefuls to a =93naughty= =20 can-can=94, where the participants perform a zany dance, kick up their= heels,=20 and then turn around and expose their tushes (hey, guys, shake your=20 bootie)=97the most apt and hilarious campaign analysis I=92ve read to date.= I=20 nearly fell on the floor laughing. Some analysts are of the opinion that the BJP emerged from the election=20 fray with a slight majority based predominantly on the outstanding=20 administrative performance and squeaky clean personal record of Manohar=20 Parrikar during his unelected tenure as CM. (Just about everyone agrees=20 that there was never any question of him losing in his own=20 constituency.) The stats seem to show that the voting public is=20 increasingly disillusioned with the Congress=92 refusal to divest itself of= =20 the taint of defection politics and widespread corruption, and that a=20 considerable portion of the secular vote went to the BJP for this reason.=20 (Personally, I think it is pathetic that out of one billion people, the=20 Congress can=92t find a single Indian to serve as its national leader.) Other analysts have gone so far as to say that, had it not been for Gujarat= =20 and the rabid communal mumbo-jumbo emanating from the VHP, Narendra Modi=20 and Prime Minister Vajpayee, the BJP would have won, at the very least,=20 three more seats in Goa. Certainly, the BJP had it=92s act together on the= =20 campaign front =ADwebsite, front page ads, brochures, rallies, and seemingly= =20 tireless footwork=97which, by comparison, made most of the other parties= seem=20 lazy, confused and/or ridiculous. Anyway, Goa now has, for the first time, an elected BJP CM, and only time=20 will tell whether he is up to the task of running Goa effectively and=20 fair-mindedly. It would be nice if he would follow the 5-point plan of=20 Nandkumar Kamat (Navind Times, June 3), but I=92m not holding my breath. Meanwhile, I=92m trying not to contemplate nuclear war and have switched my= =20 focus to the three Fs: Fashion, Football, and Fish-Curry-Rice. Wendell Rodricks has apparently retired from a brief stint in politics and= =20 opened his new showroom at Altinho, followed by a fun-filled party at the=20 Ozone Bar. Those of you with adequate cash flow will rush up and stake your= =20 claim to a designer original; those of you without, well=85what the hell is= =20 that you=92re wearing? Goa Foundation has released the long-awaited revised fourth edition of=20 Fish, Curry and Rice (at Hotel Nova Goa (hard and soft-cover, priced at Rs= =20 750 and 500 respectively). Those who attended the launch, received an=20 attractive one-time-only discount. All over Panjim, on June 1st, people were panicking and phoning each other= =20 because they didn=92t have TenSports. I myself was ready to pack my bags and= =20 move to the suburbs, which were already =91on the ball=92, so to speak. But= the=20 Panjim connection finally kicked in for the inaugural ceremony (the BOOM=20 song failed to turn me on). The World Cup got off to an exciting start,=20 with some unexpected results: Senegal beat France, the defending champions,= =20 1 to 0, and Germany whipped Saudi Arabia=92s butt, 8 to 0. But I have eyes= =20 only for Brazil and Argentina.=20 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ To unsubscribe from Goanews Send a mail message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: 'unsubscribe goanews'
