The friendly face of corruption in Goa
Devika Sequeira
devikaseque...@gmail.com
Apart from the Congress' defence of Digambar Kamat,
and the party's commitment to stand by its former
chief minister in the Louis Berger accusations,
there've been practically no sound bytes from the
political class to either censure or applaud the
police action against the two politicians. In
Churchill Alemao's case, his legal team, family and
hangers-on are the only ones who've been rallying
round him, leaving the once weighty politician
looking somewhat isolated.
Some would argue that Alemao has only himself to blame for
his current isolation. His most recent political sojourn had
him jumping into -- of all parties -- the Trinamool Congress.
That move, prompted by his peeve against the Congress party
for not giving in to his demand to field his daughter Valanka
for the Lok Sabha poll last year, defines Alemao's maverick
three and half decades in politics which have been governed
mostly by a self-serving agenda.
'Make me and my brother Joaquim ministers, or we'll bring
down your government...'. 'Give Valanka the ticket, or I'll
contest against your official candidate and help the BJP...'
The Congress Party has been the worst casualty of
this constant arm-twisting—and deservedly so, for
bending over backward to accommodate him. Though
Alemao is being implicated in the current payoffs
case for his tenure in a Congress government, the
party must be truly relieved it doesn't have to
come to his defence as a party man. Perhaps it
should thank Valanka Alemao for her overreaching
political ambition.
Churchill's closest supporters are clutching the hope that
there might after all be a positive outcome to his current
discomfiture and political low. The unfolding graft case, the
manner of his midnight arrest and his being lodged in custody
by the police could translate into a sympathy wave for him in
the next election, they believe. While a more urban and
educated voter might be repulsed by corruption, rural
Goa -- constituencies like Benaulim, Navelim, Nuvem, Taleigao
-- is often dismissive of it.
There's probably some truth in this. How else does one
explain the electoral successes of people like Mickky
Pacheco, Babush Monserrate, Mauvin Godinho?
Digambar Kamat and Churchill Alemao couldn't have
been more unalike. Alemao's large personality
comes with a grassroots appeal and charisma that
has seen him often turn the tables on more educated
politicians. Kamat, on the other hand, a backroom
player, has used cunning, guile and astute
compromise (his Brahmin genes, his critics would
say) to get to where he is, and survive a whole
term as chief minister.
But both pride themselves on being "accessible" to their
constituents and to the public at large. One can walk into
Digambar's sitting room in Margao, just as one can with
Churchill in Varca.
The bonhomie that exudes from such accessibility can often
blunt public perception of corruption in politics. This is no
sinister Vyapam scandal where scores of witnesses and
participants are being bumped off like skittles dropping off
a bowling alley. This is the soft and friendly face of an
elected representative who might have occasionally put his
hand out behind our backs. It is often argued that graft is
the necessary evil of politics in this country, and we just
have to learn to live with it.
But the biting fact is that it is political greed that has
impeded development on every front in Goa, putting it on the
irreversible path to ruination. It is why we will never
resolve such a small matter as getting rid of our garbage,
the wilful destruction of our beaches and the deliberate and
tedious impediments to everyday living for common people.
Worse yet is that worthless progeny of politicians have been
brought up to believe that inducements are an entitlement of
their political lineage. The corrosion does indeed run deep.
The BJP which has been accused of putting the Goa
Watergate case on overdrive to deflect attention
from the far more serious Vyapam racket has been
sitting smugly on the sidelines of the Louis Berger
investigations. Its recent move to reward Mauvin
Godinho -- who was dragged to the courts by former
chief minister Manohar Parrikar over the
multi-crore power rebate racket -- with the
chairmanship of the South Goa Planning and
Development Authority exposes the saffron party's
hypocrisy on the issue of corruption. Who's to say
Kamat and Alemao will not be "absolved" in the same
cynical manner before the next election?
There may actually be a rainbow at the en
