PANAJI
A switched-off mobile phone also tells a story.
Soon after photos of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, AICC secretary Dinesh Gundu Rao, Goa Forward President Vijai Sardesai, his MLA Vinoda Paliencar and independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar, with warm smiles in the cold Delhi winter went viral, state Congress President Girish Chodankar’s mobile phone has apparently gone cold.
At the time of writing this piece, Girish could not be reached over his mobile phone, because it has been switched off since 22:44 (10:44 pm).
Below are five factors to keep in mind, while addressing the new political developments and its implications for the players involved in them.
Girish’s grip: The Congress President’s reign as the State Congress president has not been an unchallenged one. Girish’s resolve to keep Goa Forward President Vijai Sardesai out in the political cold, has already been snubbed once before. That was when Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat managed to script a fuzzy alliance with Vijai for the Margao municipal polls. But Vijai’s latest pole-vault over Girish to meet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the national capital, will once again raise questions about the state Congress president’s clout with the Gandhi scion and the top echelons of his party.
Wily Vijai: There’s camaraderie in the group photo alright, but if Vijai does eventually manage to get his party woven into a Congress-led alliance, he could possibly earn himself the title of the ‘best salesman of the year’. The alliance, if sealed, or even if the GF merges with the Congress, Vijai would effectively prove that the Goa Forward and its officials are good at selling anything. Land to BJP leaders like Shaina NC and Co and enticing visions of political success to the Congress. By getting senior Congress leaders to bypass his key foe Girish, Vijai may have further weakened the state Congress President’s clout within his own party.
Everybody loves Prasad: Good things come in small packages. And the Sanguem MLA has proved time and again that he is a ‘good to go’ politician. Ever since he was elected to the state assembly in 2017, he has gone and tried to seek refuge in several political pastures. Soon after the 2017 results, he first threw his hat in the ring with the Congress (Digambar Kamat specifically), before giving a letter of support to the BJP-led coalition government in a matter of hours. He was eventually offered the chairmanship of a government corporation, from which he resigned in 2018. Recently, he surfaced in the margins of the Trinamool Congress’s expansion plans, even supervising the induction of his brother Sandesh and supporters into the West Bengal-based party.
On Tuesday, he was wedged between Gandhi and Dinesh Gundu Rao in that celebratory group photo. But judging by his track record, Gaonkar may still be good to go to other places and parties before polls are announced.
The Congress conundrum: The alliance between the Goa Forward and the Congress reads well as a mathematical calculation. The coming together of two political parties, who claim to swear by the ‘secular’ vote, should help them fight the BJP together. But an election is just so much more than mere formulaic addition and subtraction. Questions still abound over whether the Congress’ fortunes would rise or dip over its latest adventure with Goa Forward. The regional party has faced all kinds of backlash from a large section of its mainstay -- Catholic voters -- over perceived compromises on the issue of the formalin-laced fish, the post-2017 switchover to BJP and being the proud proponents of the Manohar Parrikar ideology. The timing of the photograph comes at a time when the Goa Forward party in general and Vijai in particular is being slammed for its linkages to the controversial promoters of the illegal bungalow in the protected area at Old Goa. The timing just goes to show that the oldest party in the country is not necessarily the wisest.
Kamat is King: Irrespective of whether the Congress stands to benefit by the new association with Vijai or not, one person who is likely to come away smiling from a possible deal is the former Chief Minister. Kamat is familiar with playing with his back to the wall and then coming away with a sweet deal. If the Congress and Vijai align with each other, Kamat would find it easier to on to his Margao seat, especially when TMC national Vice-president Luizinho Faleiro has reportedly confided amongst his friends, that he would dedicate special attention to knocking Kamat off his Margao perch. Faleiro continues to grudge Kamat, among other leaders, for sabotaging Congress efforts to seize power in 2017.
