Will he or won’t he? It’s a question that bothers Goa. And the context here is Manohar Parrikar. There has always been a buzz around his return to the State and Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has tried very hard to hide his chagrin. Having, indirectly expressed loss of confidence in Parsekar, the BJP was hard pressed to come up with an alternative and the high command, perhaps at the prodding of the Union Defence Minister, opted to push Parrikar into the limelight. We do not have an iota of doubt that without him, the BJP in Goa would have approached the elections without a sense of urgency or the will to win. Then, party president Amit Shah came to Goa and announced that the new BJP government would function under the leadership of Parrikar, irrespective of where he is posted.
This arrangement may have solved the BJP’s search for a face, but it raised as many questions as it sought to quell. The arrangement automatically means Parrikar will serve as a super chief minister of Goa, an extra-constitutional head of the state, so to speak. He will have the freedom to make or break policy without scrutiny and will not be responsible to the people of Goa who elect the next government. The question is, does it make sense to elect a government if the decision making process is going to be outside the state? Why not have Central Rule? What is the logic of putting up a set of candidates for election if they are going to report to a super chief minister? One can understand and accept Parrikar in the role of political supervisor during the election process. All state-level units of national parties enlist the help of central leaders and deputing Parrikar to oversee the process would have been the appropriate thing to do. However, anointing him as super chief minister is a slap on the face of the Goa unit of the BJP and the underlying message is that Goans cannot govern themselves.
One does not doubt Parrikar’s intentions. He is committed to Goa and its people and has the interest of the state at heart. His administrative skills are well known and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was right in taking him to the Centre to serve as defence minister. He is certainly an asset to Goa, but as mentor to the BJP not supervisor of a government which is elected by the people, OF THE PEOPLE and for the people. This informal appointment undermines the spirit of democracy and representative government. If the BJP thinks that Goa would be better off with Parrikar at the helm, it should have freed him from his duties in Delhi and allowed him to contest in Goa. It would have been the more honourable way out.
