Is this sheer lust for power or a sign of protest against the government for failing to deliver his reward for the 2017 bypoll sacrifice? Taleigao strongman Babush Monserrate has announced his decision to quit Goa Forward Party of which he was the vice-president and take on the Panaji bypoll arena as an Independent. But how well does this fit into coalition ‘dharma’ remains a subject of debate. Quitting the party may save his party supremo Vijai Sardesai the blushes, but the bigger question is how well it fits into the ‘dharma’ and ‘karma’ funda that is being played out.
If this was all about coalition interests, it would make better sense for Vijai who is the torch bearer of coalition ‘dharma’, to intervene and convince Babush to work in the interest of the BJP candidate. A key player in the government like Vijai cannot just heave a sigh of relief and take solace in the fact that he is being saved of an embarrassing situation. The fact that the seat was occupied by the BJP and that too none other than Parrikar whose leadership the allies espoused, gives partners even more reason to put up a collective fight.
However, coalition ‘dharma’ and political ideologies, if at all they ever existed in the current political dispensation, have been terms used to extenuate players from the political complexities that arise from time to time. Babush’s decision to jump out of the party and take on the BJP is a clear indicator that the deal which Parrikar and Vijai worked to keep him out of the 2017 bypoll has not been delivered. And there is no better way to express this discontent. It is obvious that the PDA promises could not be met, thanks to the villagers of Santa Cruz, and all that Babush could nibble at was the ‘leftovers’. But yes, with several political flip-flops, the Taleigao strongman may be at it once again trying to drive a hard bargain with the BJP, just the way he did in 2017.
Babush has been flitting between the BJP and the Congress for quite a while, adroitly making his political moves in the name of development. Lest we forget, in 2007, he did a late switch signing election papers on the UGDP ticket and dumping the Congress 15 minutes before close of nominations. Cut to 2017 and Babush left the Congress in the lurch yet again and virtually walked out of the contest giving a walk-over to Manohar Parrikar in the August 2017 bypoll. Amid the thick haze of politics, personal compromises are visible as clear as daylight.
Coincidentally, with a new leadership taking over the reins of power and Vijai losing interest in making his plans like the much-talked about Plan B and C, it remains to be seen the choice Goa Forward makes between party’s former vice-president and BJP when it comes to battlefield Panaji.
