In politics, every move has a reason. Another bitter truth is that every politico nurses ambitions of laying his hands on power at some point of time “ be it ministership or chairmanships of lucrative Corporations. Calangute MLA Michael Lobo’s outbursts against the Manohar Parrikar government, which he is a part of, stems from the fact that he is ignored for ministership despite playing crucial roles in the coalition.
Let’s not forget that Lobo was considered to be one of the chief architects and key negotiator of this coalition when it took shape in 2017. He even briefly emerged as one the leadership choices when Manohar Parrikar’s ailment took a serious turn. This was the same Lobo who a few weeks back, was fighting all opposition which went to town over a total administration collapse. This was the same Lobo who was shouting over rooftops declaring that Parrikar is in total control and the administration is being run smoothly.
Parrikar has been hospitalized for over seven months and it’s a fact that all jobs have been not released. Administration has been impacted, a fact admitted by the allies. And yet, Lobo painted a hunky-dory picture of government functioning with a rock-solid defence. It was only when Lobo was denied a ministerial berth that he decided to go to town with his government’s failures, all for the sake of being denied power. The hypocrisy was completely exposed.
Falling out of contention when there were two slots to be filled comes as a rude shock to Lobo, and it will come as a bigger surprise that Milind Naik, who has no credible record in his first stint as power minister, making the cut ahead of him. But the biggest setback for Lobo would be that he did not find favour with the BJP core committee which had a say in these ministerial announcements which came from Delhi.
Lobo appears to have missed the bus and may not even fancy his chances of making the cut anytime soon, despite the assurances given by his friend and Goa Forward supremo Vijai Sardesai. Unless if Sardesai agrees to do a star’s turn to Parrikar once again and offers to drop one of his ministers to make way for Lobo. This could be the best way out for BJP and Goa Forward since both are not ready to face mid-term polls. Lobo has offered to quit, and this only means he is ready to still bargain.
However, the bigger worry for the government is to manage the dissenting voices that are growing louder by the day. The uneasy calm and the ‘all is well’ balloon have burst. Lobo is the second MLA, after Prasad Gaonkar to raise a banner of revolt against their own government and this is what the leadership will have to be wary of.
