As of the 26th of January 2016, Goa has a new regional party to add to the many it has already accumulated over the decades.
The first two were the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the United Goans Party. The former's initial plank of merger with Goa's larger northern neighbour was dumped after the Opinion Poll. There have been several histories written on the party and its main founders, and these will likely find favour with some and be contested by others. That is because parties, especially smaller regional parties have tended to represent the interests of smaller groups of players in contest with other power groups, vying for power in the same political and economic space. That was certainly the case with the two regional parties, the MGP and the UGP that dominated the political space shortly after liberation. Broadly, their voting patterns reflected the differences of Old Conquests and New Conquest areas, in addition to caste and creed. The Congress in Goa, at that time, was dominated by nationalists with a pan India vision, mainly drawn from the upper castes of Goa's major communities. They were however cast adrift in the local sectarian divisions that underscored the contests for electoral power in Goa in the years following liberation.
There are some, who will argue with some merit, that those early decades of Goa's post liberation history and politics have not been adequately studied. At best what has emerged from the few histories written of the leaders of those times and the movements they led, are hagiographic studies that lack a critical evaluation of the caste, political and economic interests that powered some of the crucial land legislations of those times. When dominant groups plot the electoral arithmetic that will see them to power, and by definition keep their opponents out --- they must take along affiliate vote banks, with the promise of economic benefit. In the power sharing formulae within ruling coalitions though, the tussle is always for dominance and holding the keys to the kingdom. Within caste and community based groupings, the inevitable emergence of “creamy layers” that corner giant shares of the “economic benefit”, is never adequately debated either.
By 1980, the Congress led by the late Dr Wilfred de Souza had worked out an umbrella, inclusive equation that saw the Congress trump the regional parties, literally at their own game. But the nature of political and economic competition is such, that if there are “in groups”, with an inside access to power and privilege, there are necessarily “out groups”, waiting for their turn at their electoral roundabout.
In contrast the regional parties that sprung up in later years and more so in the post 1990s decades, have tended to be formations built around political personalities, disenchanted with larger political parties, or attempting to negotiate greater space for themselves. There has been the Goa Congress, the Goa Rajiv Congress, the United Goans Democratic Party, the Save Goa Front, the Goa Vikas Party and the few days old Goa Forward.
More seasoned politicians have quickly underscored that registering a political party is the least challenge, gaining credibility and convincing the electorate, is the more daunting task. Is there a pattern in the fact that more recent regional formations have focussed money and effort in the Salcete area, where the Congress once won its eight seats with relative ease in Christian dominated areas?
The stated goals of Goa Forward sound impressive. But the test of a political party will be in its politics and the composition of its major and minor partners. In political circles, these are easy to read. On mining and the medium of instruction imbroglio, it has hedged its bets. Post Bihar, the talk of unity was in the air, and none more vociferous about it, than the clutch of young legislators, who are now backing the new regional front.
It certainly does not help the cause of the new party, that its recent close association with the Congress is so well known. When personality clashes and pressure tactics are the raison d'tre for the formation of parties, they tend to run out of steam in the short run. This is not an unknown phenomenon in recent Goan politics. Churchill Alemao created two political formations in two decades and is back to square one.
For the moment, the Congress is unwilling to let its former young turks hold it to ransom. Officially it has dismissed any notion that it would be affected by the new formation. Politically, it has chosen to keep the heat on in Fatorda. An aspiring leader fighting fires in his own domain has less play to venture further afield and hone his damage potential, which is the key to a politician's bargaining powers. As it is, the real task would be convincing the electorate that the regional party logic is based on real concerns and not personal and community ambitions or as a pressure tactic.
2017 will not be 2012. At 2016, the Goan electorate has taken its chances and made its assessment on promises made and results delivered. A whole new generation has come of voting age, but simultaneously, chunks have been knocked off the rolls as well. The shifts in electoral numbers are being assessed and reevaluated if they have not already been. The landscape is expected to get more complex with many more formations diving in.
A new formation will fan out to key institutions to garner support for its cause. Time will tell, if they can strike a chord and win the battle of wits.
Pamela D’mello is an independent journalist
