The breakaway Congress group has made a complete mockery of the 20-day assembly session. In what was billed as a first slugfest between the opposition and the ruling, now appears to have fizzled out even before it could take off. The pointless obituary discussions on the opening day between the government and opposition go a long way to show what’s in store.
An Assembly session is a serious parliamentary exercise where representatives are expected to highlight, discuss and debate issues affecting the people. After a series of curtailed sessions during the Manohar Parrikar regime, this one held out a lot of promise of being an intense encounter against the government, until last week when the Congress broke ranks.
Now, what happens to all the issues and promises of putting the government on the mat? Former CLP leader Chandrakant Babu Kavlekar, who is now the deputy chief minister in the Pramod Sawant ministry had flexed muscle and announced plans of moving a calling attention motion to discuss the taxi issue. The Congress sympathised with the local tourist taxis and backed them for the Goemkarponn they were showcasing. The coastal plan which witnessed public outcry and the stinking garbage imbroglio were crucial public issues on the agenda. By switching loyalties, these representatives have not only done a trade-off but also shown how ruthless and power-hungry mercenaries they can be when it comes to betraying the people of Goa. Outside the hallowed precincts of the Legislative Assembly, the breakaway Congress group will only find solace in the fact that the simmering resentment against the Goa Forward has helped to insulate itself from a severe backlash.
It’s a helpless situation now that the government has virtually bulldozed through the rank and file of the opposition. Worse still is the fact that the very few that are left in the Congress continue to be a disjointed lot. It’s bizarre that the Central leadership has to resort to draw of lots to pick a leader from the five MLAs. For the BJP, this becomes a win-win situation. With one mighty strike, the BJP not only hijacked question hour, but managed to shoot down the 300-odd questions that it could have faced otherwise. It means that all questions relating
to the four ministers are automatically chucked out. No questions asked.
On the other side of the fence, the Goa Forward which is cooling its heels is facing a paradox of sorts. For all the ‘chowkidari’ which Vijai has promised, he will be a muted spectator to the house proceedings because he has no questions lined up since he was part of the government a few days ago before calamity struck. He has made no bones of the fact that he will not be able to take on the government in the House. It remains to be seen if this disjointed and motley lot could test the former deputy CM’s patience, Goenkarponn and the new-found ‘Chowkidarponn’.
