Being a neta is a multifarious equation and being a Congress neta is a far more complicated affair. The BJP has clarity of characteristics while choosing their candidates. A swayamsevak having party organisational experience with assured oratory skills fits in their criteria. The new qualification recently added in the desirables is being from a minority community without any precise abhorrence towards the core ideology of the party. The Congress has none. It is all accommodative and beyond doubt encompassing with an open door for rational stalwarts to certified crooks. This does not mean the BJP is having dearth of crooks. It’s just that a crook possessing the above mentioned traits only qualifies to be in their fold while an upright intellectual with a firm disregard for the sangh parivar becomes an outcast.
The current struggle between the so called grandfathers and the grandsons of the grand old party is not a local occurrence. Even Rahul Gandhi could not have his way when he decided to infuse fresh ideas and new blood by faintly sidelining the infamous stalwarts. He still does not understand what hit him during all those tiresome election campaigns and supercilious speeches. Why his praiseworthy idea of US-primary style candidates’ selection could not find any takers in the home grown political set up with broad liberal values and totally open ethos? And if RaGa cannot do it standing on the historic 10 Janpath lawns can some Durgadas Kamat and an unknown Tanvir Khatib do it from Salida Del Sol? I think the answer is obvious.
The issue is not about whether they are right or wrong. Ideally, there are many great deeds that are expected of the Congress. But ideals and politics have become two far-flung concepts. They rarely shake hands, and when they do they seldom win elections. So the ideal situation becomes next to unaffordable most of the time in the business of politics. As one of my clever friends with would-be MLA ambitions accurately says “ “Our politics is like a mental hospital. If you behave like a doctor anxious to treat the patients (in this case voters) they will turn against you. If you become one of them and sing the same tunes, they would love you and soak you with votes. The choice is yours.” If your intentions are that of a doctor, be an activist and fight forever; don’t try to be a neta.
Congress cannot get rid of its tried and tested, and sometimes failed policies, because there is no thumb rule when it comes to winning elections in this country. The same goes with Goa. Pratapsingh Rane won the last assembly election in spite of the BJP fielding a fairly young candidate against the veteran. Digambar Kamat is constantly winning in Margao against all the young and energetic candidates of the BJP. Babu Kavlekar has defeated candidates older as well as younger to win consecutive elections. Pandurang Madkaikar has beaten all kinds of candidates “ young, old, honest, dishonest, upright, not so right etc etc. And all these guys have consistently achieved this feat. Obviously, there is something more to it than the age factor.
During 2009 Lok Sabha election, I was shooting “Date with a Candidate” “ a campaign trail programme. I was travelling with one of the candidates. He had scheduled a meeting with an upcoming leader from Thivim. His name was Kiran Kandolkar.
“This man has more than 4000 votes under his belt. He is very dynamic, obliging and all the time accessible to the people from his constituency. He may trump Nilkanth Halarnkar in the next election. I need his support", the candidate told me. Nilkanth was a formidable force then and a legislator from the ruling dispensation. I inquired about Kiran Kandolkar’s secret. "Birthdays, weddings, engagements, health emergencies, funerals “ he is always there for his constituents; not only financially but personally, emotionally and morally".
Kiran Kandolkar worked relentlessly in his constituency for almost five years before claiming any candidacy from a political party. It was his personal 4000 plus votes coupled with the BJP vote bank that led him to the legislative assembly by defeating a heavyweight like Nilkanth.
Candidates are hardly ever elected on factors other than the above. It happens during a wave election. Just like the 2012 election which elected Vishnu Wagh, an erudite Congress spokesperson switching sides at the final minute to the BJP, contesting from a traditional Congress constituency and defeating an affable candidate like Francis Silveira to pull off one of the most appalling upsets of the last election.
That was an exception, not a rule. That was a wave washing away lots of baggage, not just age. So what are the criteria while determining candidates? Age? Money? Social work? Educational qualification? Street smartness? Popularity?
I suppose the word “winnability” constitutes all of the above. An electorate in small constituencies like Goa gets inclined by all these factors. From sponsoring a cricket or beach soccer tournament to being present during medical emergencies and family weddings build the favors a candidate commands. You cannot win an election just because you are young and clean. Else Fr Bismarque Dias would have been a MLA. You need to be attached with your constituency, work for the distressed families, assist aged, aid unemployed and be there during good and bad times “ be a part of most of the families in your constituency. Then they accept you, vote for you. Everything else is immaterial.
Pramod Acharya is Editor, Prudent Media
