ON THE LIGHTER SIDE ---------------------------------
If you think Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who promised to make Goa a comfortable state and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who vowed to give us a corruption-free government, will drop by to enquire about our wellbeing, you are living on another planet
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Yesterday over 80 per cent of the electorate cast their votes and experts, analysts, psephologists, journalists are having a field day. What does this number mean? Is it an established rule that a higher turn-out automatically translates into a vote against the ruling party? Does it mean that many came out to vote because it is a dry day and voting naturally seemed more exciting than sitting at home and sipping tea? Or is it just a meaningless figure which should go into the record books and be forgotten for the next five years?
The results of the elections will be declared only on March 11 when all the phases of the Uttar Pradesh poll are conducted. It’s a long wait and rather unfair that we, a peace loving people, have to wait because the not-so-peaceful people of UP do not really understand the need to have free and fair elections. Hence, extra security is needed and this can only be provided if the polls are held in seven phases.
So the moot question is, what’s going to happen from now to March 10? What we do know is that the chief minister will have work to do because the government is still in place, but there is no need to exert himself because no one’s looking. And since the votes have already been cast there is no point in providing an efficient, clean and responsive government. But we suppose none would fault the chief minister or deputy chief minister for using their official cars with ‘lal battis’.
The sitting MLAs can take a break from giving speeches, cutting ribbons, calling press conferences and laying foundations stones.
Bureaucrats can put their feet up for the next 34 days as the pressure to generate paper trails will be off. The excise department could be the only department burning the mid-night oil as it has to implement the Supreme Court order banning liquor outlets along national and state highways. The rest of the government can remain in the first gear, because that is where it was for a major portion of the last five years.
If you think Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who promised to make Goa a comfortable state and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who vowed to give us a corruption-free government, will drop by to enquire about our wellbeing, you are living on another planet. Arvind Kejriwal, however, might pay Benaulim a visit because the rumour is, he likes salt fish. Manohar Parrikar will come and go and come and go and come and ……. we could go on and on and on …..
So, what is the ordinary Goan going to do for the next 34 days? We have never faced a situation like this and a month without politics might just kill everyone in the State except all those chaps in the election commission. They are made of steel and electronics. They keep coming back every five years with better plans to kill the festive mood associated with an election. Now they postponed the results by 34 days. It’s torture. It’s like eating lunch on Sunday and having dessert on the following Sunday.
So if it’s okay with you, we would like to discuss, debate, analyse, dissect and deliberate on the 83 per cent turnout for the next 34 days.
