The code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections came into immediate effect on Saturday after the Election Commissioner announced the schedule. For Goans, especially the thousands who were looking forward to a resolution to the vexed Indian passport revocation issue after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s categoric assurance, the election code meant that there is going to be a status quo at least till the new government is formed if not more.
This comes as a setback after the CM pursued the issue with the Centre and raised hopes of a resolution. Sawant had disclosed that the State government is in continuous talks with the External Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry. It was only recently that the CM disclosed that he met Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi and pushed for a “surrender” option instead of “revocation” of an Indian passport and assured people back home of a resolution before the election code came into force.
Unfortunately, last Friday, when the CM met with editors in Panaji he explained how complex the issue was because of its pan-India implications. “It is not Goa-specific but applies to citizens across the nation. It is beyond the control of the State government. The Centre will need time to examine the issue in its totality and come up with an appropriate solution,” he stated. A delegation of Goa for Goans who had taken up the issue with the chief minister had appreciated the intent shown in resolving the issue and held that it rekindled new hope in the hearts of thousands of people affected by the MEA circular of November 2022.
There were genuine reasons to believe that the State government would make a sincere effort, against the backdrop of crucial decisions being taken in other spheres — an ordinance on temporary beach structures to bail out those caught in the High Court’s web, and the Central cabinet approval for a bill that paves the way for political reservations for Schedule Tribes in Goa. The double-engine government has been seemingly leaving no stone unturned ahead of the polls.
That it failed to meet its assurance on the passport issue highlights the fact that the Centre is not in a position to take that call right now, and that amplifies the intricacy of the issue that is probably beyond the boundaries of political bargaining. A counter to that would be about showing political maturity and trying to fathom the depth of an issue before making radical assurances. A promise to resolve the issue within ten days was unwarranted given the situation. Unfortunately, there has been no word subsequently, on whether the government would take the matter up once again after a new government takes shape.
Nonetheless, Sawant must be credited for moving the Centre, and the efforts he undertook, although it came too late. Goans will have to grapple with the dilemma that the circular forces upon them. Registration of birth in the form of Assento is considered reason enough for revocation of an Indian passport, leaving a person in the middle of nowhere. People will have to come to terms with the issue at hand.
