The political turf in the State suddenly came alive with the BJP picking up an extract from Congress candidate Capt Viriato’s speech made on Monday at Betalbatim, Salcete. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant responded in a late evening tweet that day saying “Stop Bharat Todo politics”, and on Tuesday Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a veiled mention at a campaign meeting at Chhattisgarh saying “Congress was making a calculated move to break the nation”. The BJP pounced on the Congress like tigers, catching the grand old party off guard.
Now, here is what Capt Viriato said: “We were not included in the Constitution that was passed, rather, the Constitution was imposed (Tokler Marlem ” in Konkani) on us.” He was making a case over Goa not getting any special benefits along the lines of some other states.
The incident comes quickly on the heels of another incident that unfolded on Sunday in Rajasthan where the Prime Minister made an ‘out of context’ reference to Manmohan Singh’s speech of December 2006 where he had said: “The government must devise innovative plans to ensure minorities, particularly Muslims are empowered to share equitably the fruits of development.” If the BJP in Goa moved the EC against Viriato, the Congress in Rajasthan followed the same course with a plea to disqualify the candidature of Modi adding “a simple censure is not enough”.
Mudslinging and intimidating leaders through sledging, patriotism, religion and public emotion have become part and parcel of electoral politics. In recent times, the play has been on the Constitution with parties acting as supreme guardians even as murmurs are heard in some sections over the need to tweak the Constitution selectively while Modi keeps saying that “Even Dr Ambedkar would not be allowed to change the Constitution”.
While safeguarding the Constitution, political parties seem to be forgetting that one of the four components of the preamble of the Constitution, that is Liberty, gives citizens the freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Ironically, political intolerance has grown exponentially that one cannot express themselves fearlessly as prescribed in the very Constitution and politicos define constitutional violations in a format which suits their narratives.
In Goa, however, outreaches based on constitutional violation don’t sell, since people are grappling with different sets of issues ” citizenship, Mhadei water diversion, protection of Goan identity and environment, etc. The red flag raised by the BJP over Capt Viriato’s speech, on the contrary, has given the Opposition, and especially the candidate, further recognition. The uproar brought back the roar in the alliance, and in what was seen as a conscious and calculated attack against the Congress candidate, ended up giving the opposition the traction it was seeking. The incident highlights the fact that the BJP-Congress rivalry for the South Goa Lok Sabha seat is peaking, contrary to the assumption of being one-sided.
All said and done, the ‘Constitutional’ saga brings to the fore the need for political parties to steer away from emotive and sensitive issues like religion and the Constitution and focus on the welfare of citizens and the issues of the State. It is unfortunate that the very Constitution that binds citizens of all religions, sections and backgrounds and guarantees freedom to every individual, is increasingly becoming a subject of political misinterpretation. Let there be fair play.
