Goa Congress President Shantaram Naik’s decision to put in his papers is a welcome one, not only because it was long overdue, but because the state desperately needs a strong voice in the Opposition that can truly speak up for the people of Goa.
The appointment of Shantaram Naik to replace Luizinho Faleiro in response to calls for Luizinho’s resignation after the Congress failed to form the government was then seen as an opportunity for the party to quickly rebuild following a disappointing season.
One couldn’t escape the fact that Naik lived in a different century. The Rajya Sabha MP who was vocal about issues affecting Goa while in Delhi didn’t have the voice needed of the principal opposition party and would often wait days before reacting to emerging political developments, by which time the opportunity to capitalize on the failings of the incumbent government would have passed.
However, the resignation is only one part. The bigger challenge before the Congress party is who they appoint next? Do they go for fresh blood over established political names who have been re-elected this time after having been voted out in 2012? Or do they go for new faces from among the party’s rank and file?
There is no doubt, whoever is chosen to head the party in the state will have the unenvious task of leading the party through the Lok Sabha polls scheduled for next year and will have to challenge not only the sitting BJP MLA but also the other political forces that will seek to muddy the waters to the advantage of the ruling BJP.
It would help if the leader chosen was one who has had experience fighting elections, irrespective of whether he is a current MLA or not.
The current political situation in the state is the best example of why the future Congress president will have to be searingly vocal. Despite the current ruling dispensation having thrown the state and its people under the bus as the Chief Minister clings on to the reins of power expecting that everyone else wait patiently until he returns, while the state burns and irrespective of the cost to the state and its people, there has not been anyone from the principal opposition party raising their voice against this; no one to give voice to the people’s angst.
One hopes that the renewed leadership of the Congress at the Centre will rub off on the state unit that has for far too long behaved like power will be handed to them on a platter and the current BJP rule is only an ‘anomaly’ in their otherwise right to rule.
