There is a saying, ‘my enemies’ enemy is my friend’. In Fatorda, Damodar Naik of the BJP has a political enemy “ Vijai Sardessai and Vijai has an enemy -- the Congress. So the Congress has become Naik’s friend. Naik does not need to canvas against Sardessai because the Congress is doing it for him.
Last week, the Congress released a chargesheet listing out the alleged failures of the sitting MLA in Fatorda. On the list was corruption in the SGPDA and the Margao Municipal Council, bad roads, failure to tackle garbage at Sonsoddo, lack of development of public utilities and more. The Congress studied Vijai’s manifesto for the 2012 elections and came up with a longer list of failures. Part of the document outlines the vision of the Congress for Fatorda constituency which includes a decrease in food prices, creation of job opportunities, good governance, quality infrastructure for citizens and CCTV coverage at all government offices in Fatorda. It also outlined plans to develop community character, natural resources, transportation, housing… almost everything. What the Congress chargesheet/manifesto does not mention is how the Congress is going to fulfil all these promises by sitting in the opposition?
The hallmark of Indian democracy is that if you are in the opposition the government does not release funds for development, more so in Fatorda where it has a strong candidate in Damu Naik who will take on Vijai. The Congress has been in power at the Centre for five decades, does it not know this simple political truth? It would have made sense to chargesheet Avertano Furtado in Navelim because he is a minister in the BJP government and in a position to make things happen. Vijai, on the other hand, was the lone ranger who took on the BJP in the Assembly and outside and he did it without the help of the Congress. If a chargesheet is to be framed it ought to be framed against the Congress for denying him a ticket in 2012. Does the Congress have the courage to explain why he was denied a ticket? Can it explain why the ticket was given to M K Shaikh who stood fifth with 660 votes?
While the BJP, MGP and GSM labour to win the 2017 elections through alliances and tie-ups, the Congress appears to be caught up in defeating Vijai Sardessai. We leave the Fatorda MLA to defend himself against the chargesheet, but the Congress needs to explain to its voters and supporters why it would prefer to see the BJP win in Fatorda? The Congress has often said the Aam Aadmi Party is the B-team of the BJP because it could split the non-BJP vote. In Fatorda, the Congress is the B-team of the BJP because it is going out of its way to favour Damu Naik of the BJP.
