The fight against corruption has been a major plank in the political battlefield of Goa with parties across the spectrum making sweeping statements on cleansing the system of this menace. On the eve of Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao’s entry into the TMC along with his daughter, Mamata Banerjee’s party once again gave a clarion call that the party is out to root out corruption from the system. Mamata was, however, posed with an interesting question on how she would achieve her objective after having included in her line-up candidates who are tainted with corruption charges.
The crux of the matter is that most parties showing promise of stamping out corruption are not leading by example. And probably they face a dilemma of choosing between clean, tainted and winnable candidates. Mamata’s contention that she may not get all clean faces only shows TMC’s helplessness in prioritizing winnability by overlooking the shady past of candidates.
History tells us that corruption has been a critical point of political discourse for parties, but sadly not so for the electorate. Political heavyweights who have been charged with multi-crore corruption scams and frauds, with even FIRs and arrests being made, have withstood the electoral challenges and emerged winners despite the odds. There are some big names, both in and out of the ruling dispensation, which have indulged in corruption at varying levels, and have still managed to get themselves re-elected by convincing margins.
Alemao, against whom there were charges and arrest in the Louis Berger case besides the PWD tender scam, has still managed to win the confidence of the people. This, even after contesting on multiple parties which include Goa Congress, UGDP, Congress, Save Goa, NCP and now Trinamool Congress.
The corruption plank on which parties are confronting the opposition and promising to provide clean governance has become an outdated and irrelevant one. It no longer catches the fancy of the voters anymore. The drift in electoral politics is as clear as daylight. A large section of voters fall for the lure of doles and incentives, and that is why we see a competition of sorts between parties belting out schemes with unreasonable financial benefits that are hard to comprehend. The common citizen is not naive anymore to gulp down hypothetical theories on systemic changes, neither is he smart enough to question the economics of these promises.
Parties will continue to bring the corruption issue into their discourse and manifestos, despite knowing for a fact it will not get them the traction. Ironically, graft has been ingrained into the system that it’s going to be an uphill task in drawing the line between politicos. In a muddied political scenario, we have a situation akin to the pot calling the kettle black.
The TMC and BJP continue to focus on winnability, and money power remains the constant as a major influencer. It is to be seen if the 2022 elections, expected to be wider and more intense, brings about a paradigm shift in voters’ approach.
