The issue of administration collapse is simmering once again. MGP has fired a fresh salvo with a threat to contest all polls if the charge of the chief minister’s office is not given to PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar. The party central committee meeting highlighted the fact that administration is severely affected. This comes on a day when Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte also hit out openly against an administration ‘collapse’ saying he has stopped going to the secretariat in protest.
This has turned out to be one bizarre political drama. These were the very ministers that portrayed an ‘all is well’ picture a few days back. Lest we forget, on October 29 a photo was released of a feeble-looking CM cushioned between pillows at his private residence in Dona Paula with a couple of ministers, bureaucrats and officers discussing in what was called an IPB meeting. Next, Parrikar was seen in the midst of his cabinet colleagues at the same venue. It is the same Sudin and Khaunte who said the chief minister was recovering and was in full control of the administration. Behold, the BJP party president Vinay Tendulkar even went on to say that Parrikar will return to work in a couple of days. Till then Parrikar was fine and the administration was being run smoothly. So what’s gone wrong now? Parrikar’s health is deteriorated? Or the bureaucracy is not ready to toe your line?
There have been a series of updates of Parrikar’s improving health since February, so much so that the chief minister being able to sit, talk or even walk has become news for politicos now. If anyone is complaining of an administration collapse now, it only means their files are not getting cleared, which in political jargon suggests they are not having their way. The political bluff is very evident.
On the flip side, there have been frequent talks of Parrikar handing over charge. Then came reports of the CM divesting some of his major portfolios, then there was a timeline drawn from Dussehra to Diwali. Nothing has actually happened, except for the fact that Parrikar was home for Diwali.
There needs to be a line drawn somewhere. People of Goa and the administration of the State cannot be taken for granted. It is clear that Parrikar is suffering from an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer. What is not clear is who within this governance is power-hungry. Is it Parrikar, the BJP or the allies? There needs to be clarity on whether Parrikar is holding on to power at his own will, or whether the BJP is forcing him into this situation due to compulsions of coalition politics. You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. The BJP has to come out with answers.
