Vijai Sardesai plays the “Mopa” card against Parrikar, kick starting a new political movement and a serious opposition force
In no other state in India does the taxi business influencethe ebb and flow of politics, as it does in Goa. Many a political driving seatis established if you get your taxi politics right. The Fatorda MLA VijaiSardesai took his little steps towards being the man of the moment, byattending an inconsequential Annual General meeting of the Black and YellowTaxi Owners Association a few days before the launch of his Goemkar movement.
On the day of his January 15 rally to launch Goemkar, withthe movement against the Mopa airport and the protection of Dabolim as theemotive trigger, the black and yellow cabbies decided to participate. A worriedindustries minister Milind Naik called and asked them why they wereparticipating in Vijay’s rally. But another man was hurt even more. Naik’s neighborand sulking Congressman Mauvin Godinho, who has a strong base of cabbiesupporters of the black and yellow kind.
He was shocked with the reply “The issue is too big. We haveto support anyone who wants Dabolim’s development and is against Mopa.”
As he launched his movement, apparently non-political, therewas politics dripping from every pore. In a trademark that is so his, Sardesaimakes up for a lack of a mass base and a groundswell of pan Goa support, withhis uncanny nose of smelling a political scoring opportunity.
Goemkar would have been just another opportunistic flirtation.But he has injected political romance by pegging the movement around protectingDabolim as an international airport and opposing the Mopa airport tooth andnail.
This is heartstring politics, which is making both ChiefMinister Parrikar and the stray pieces of the Congress cagey. The Congress’desperate defense is to shout out loud that it retains the patent of Salcette’sopposition to the Mopa airport and dismisses Sardesai. But the frustration ofpeople like Fransisco Sardinha is apparent when he says “My advice to those whojoined him is to bell the cat and voice your opinion, but don’t mix with thesefrauds who were very much a part of the previous government.” Sardinha’samnesia that the government was his too, is appalling. Sardinha’s letter to theCivil Aviation ministry, as Chief Minister asking it to “expedite” the Mopaairport, will make him a virtual cast away in Salcette Mauvin Godinho, who hashis own issues with the Congress, gives Sardesai no credit. “All this hashappened because of the Congress relies on the same old leadership and doesn’tlisten to genuine feedback. The issue is important but people will have to seewho they are supporting.” Godinho isn’t likely to get this space back anytimesoon himself. Widely regarded as the villain of the piece, in the landde-notifi cation saga, where 36,800 square meters of land earmarked for parkingat Dabolim was handed back to Bernard Costa, who in turn sold land to builderAnand Bose, Godinho has taken a credibility hit. But the biggest take away fromthe formation of Goemkar is that it has pitchforked Sardesai into a one to onestraight combat with Chief Minister Parrikar, especially in Salcette. This is amajor irony since the most natural beneficiary of Congress’ corruption byde-notifying the Dabolim land would have been Parrikar.
Activist Joao Philippe Pereira, who has fi led a PIL for theland for Dabolim to be taken back, says “ Section 6 of the Land Acquisition actwas allowed to be lapsed on June 15, 2002 by not paying compensation to theland owner, paving the way for returning the land to him. After this it becamedifficult to re-notify the land. The CM must answer as to why he did this.”
Giving the Dabolim land back would have given Parrikar the cushionagainst a Salcette backlash, in his efforts to speed work on Mopa. Here,without wanting to, Parrikar is being seen by a Salcette that whole heartedlyvoted for him, as the man on the other side of the bridge that divides northand south Goa, the line of separation between pro and anti Mopa forces. Hismove to invoke Section 6 and acquire 22 lakh square metres of land in Mopa, onThursday Jan 17, through a nine page notice in a local daily, (incidentally twodays after the Goemkar rally) has sharpened the backlash. Predictably Sardesai hasreacted. “The Chief Minister has shown scant respect for the people who wantedMopa land acquisitions to be stopped.
People are seeing a huge haste in commissioning land forMopa and no haste in getting land for parking in Dabolim.” The Goemkarbandwagon can trudge along and pick up new passengers. Firstly Salcette’s non-CongressMLAs supporting the BJP government – Caitu Silva, Avertano D Souza, BenjaminSilva, Rajan Naik and Mickky Pacheco – will have to find ways to support theissue without supporting Vijai’s formation.
The challenge will be to see that this line doesn’t blur.Sardesai’s success will lie in making the anti Mopa movement synonymous withGoemkar. Vijai Sardesai may be the nephew of Ravindra Kelekar, but he is stillnot Chandrakant Keni or Ulhas Bhuiyao or Uday Bhembre, stalwarts of the Konkanimovement, who became the movement itself. 2013 will tell if he can convertpublic sentiment into opportunity where Salcette trusts him, after failed experimentswith people like Churchill, Digambar Kamat.
Sardesai would love to add Parrikar to that list.
