The simmering animosity between Minister for Solid Waste Management Michael Lobo and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai appears to have abated after the former accepted the former TCP minister’s invite for talks over drinks. On paper, this informal gesture would mean nothing, and neither would the government endorse such a discourse. But in the larger context, it paves the way for an amicable solution to the vexed Sonsodo garbage issue.
The sparring between the two began ever since the three Goa Forward Party MLAs were dropped from the cabinet to accommodate members from the 10-member Congress breakaway group. A breakthrough could not have been possible with both fighting pitched political battles in the background. To put it in perspective, the Minister for SWM would require the cooperation of the local MLA and the Margao municipality in resolving the issue. Likewise, Vijai & Co know that government’s intervention is vital at this juncture. The olive branch from both sides will only augur well for the situation.
The trade-off between Lobo and Vijai has been so dominant that it literally pushed the entire issue to the back burner, even though time was running out. It’s over ten days that a joint inspection was carried at the behest of the district court in Margao, but there has been no headway since then. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who heads the High Powered Coordination Committee, is yet to call for a meeting and there is no sign of the Goa State Pollution Control Board which has to report on samples from inside the treatment plant. The Fatorda MLA and the civic body have failed to achieve a breakthrough despite several attempts and it is sensible enough to allow Lobo to take over. Taking a confrontationist approach would not benefit either. Hence the thaw in relations between Lobo and Vijai comes as a welcome sign.
Discussions over tea, drinks and across dinner tables are part and parcel of Goan folklore. These are times where informal discussions ranging from casual banter to serious debates happen, all for a good cause. On the same lines, politics makes strange bedfellows too.
Just at a time when the Lobo-Vijai spat was threatening to snowball into another controversy, the Fatorda MLA possibly tried an ‘old trick’. Good old memories die hard, so goes the saying. And Vijai reminding Lobo of the time they raised a toast or two over discussions ranging from friendships to politics at his palatial residence down South may have struck the right chord. Lobo reciprocated to Vijai’s invitation for discussion over a drink, and the Fatorda MLA retorted that he will not be a stumbling block. Vijai’s comment that there should not be any impediments from the BJP while Lobo works out a solution goes to show that he is backing the minister to the hilt. All’s well that ends well, for now.
