It’s a disgrace that Dr Jack Sequeira’s name, the man who is billed as “Father of Opinion Poll”, continues to be muddied with politics and controversies. A decision to install Dr Sequeira’s statue at a traffic island in Margao has reached its flashpoint with Margao Municipality Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai quitting the chair and refusing to budge over a resolution passed on the issue.
Lest we forget, former TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai’s bid to install a statue of Dr Sequeira in the Assembly complex fell flat last year in the absence of a consensus within the ruling. In an attempt to touch base with a section of the people, a livid Sardesai subsequently firmed up his resolve giving a clarion call to defeat forces that refuse to give recognition to Dr Sequeira. “We would be ‘political hijra’ if we cannot do this,” he had said. That sums up the significance and the political undercurrents the issue has.
Dr Sequeira’s statue has once again become the focal point of an intricate move on the political chessboard in the Margao municipality, and the divisions are clear as daylight. On one side is the Sardesai-backed group moving ahead with its agenda linking the much-touted Goemkarponn slogan to the statue. On the other side is a resurgent Opposition owing allegiance to Margao MLA and Congress leader Digambar Kamat and the Rupesh Mahatme-led BJP group in a belated bid to stop the move.
The politicking over Dr Sequeira statue revolves around vote-banks politics. We are not convinced that statues are needed to express our ‘Goanness’, and the logic of statues being a way of revering Opinion Poll heroes is absurd. If that was a case, Goa would be dotted with statues all over this tiny State. Sadly, the hard reality is that history is being used by a few leaders to draw political mileage in times of distress.
With elections to the council a clear one-year away, councillors have begun their moves of wooing the electorate in right earnest “ from statues to road-naming. There are proposals to name roads after eminent personalities including former chief minister late Manohar Parrikar. The Opposition is ready to stall this too since it doesn’t want to concede any advantage to the Goa Forward.
The councillors unanimously agree that a resolution was passed on installation of Dr Sequeira’s statue in July, but they are contesting the recording of minutes. The Opposition is missing a point here. Why was this not thoroughly debated if councillors were wary of a SC observation on statues along road-sides? Moreover, the ball is in the Chief Officer’s court and it is for him to study all related aspects before proceeding with the project. So, is this about changing minutes or changing the script altogether?
The Margao municipality may not be bound by political parties, but the alignments are out in the open and there is a lot at stake. By belatedly raking up this issue, the Opposition is only trying to checkmate Goa Forward moves.
