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In a free-wheeling interview with PADMAVATI PRABHU, Elvis Gomes, the ex-bureaucrat turned politician, explains his reasons to opt for the Aam Aadmi Party, which he says is the answer to the vested politics played by ‘traditional political parties’
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TGE: With Cuncolim presently being represented by MLA Subhash ‘Rajan’ Naik and many others in the fray, what are your chances?
EG: Not bad. From the reception people have given me and the response that I am getting, I think they will recognise the reason why I have come out. In that sense, they will back me to represent them. It’s all about them and nothing to do with me. I am just a representative who will be representing their aspirations and what they want. Their welfare is my priority. Therefore the people should back me and I’ll be through.
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THE GOAN EVERYDAY (TGE): It’s been a week since you opted for voluntary retirement from the State Government. Are you serious about launching your political career?
ELVIS GOMES (EG): Initially I had said that I would take a break for some days which I have already taken. Meanwhile politics was already an option that was open. Shortly I will be entering a political party and I have chosen with great thought and application of mind to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
TGE: Any specific reasons for choosing AAP?
EG: Let me put it this way. We have two traditional parties which are old parties and have a strong base. Over a course of time, these are becoming like old buildings, which are not maintained. As a result people are dissatisfied. So instead of going for repairs of something which is not worth repairing, might as well build something new. That is the reason why AAP is an option. It’s a new thought. AAP stands for something and its people are selfless. They don’t care about themselves. It is all for the common man. In that respect I think the people in AAP are not really to be considered as politicians, but as people in a movement, a movement for change.
TGE: Have you selected any constituency for yourself for contesting the elections?
EG: The first option would be the place that you come from, where you are born and brought up and where people know you better. So home is always first, which is Cuncolim. If the party thinks so, I would like to contest from Cuncolim.
TGE: With Cuncolim presently being represented by MLA Subhash ‘Rajan’ Naik and many others in the fray, what are your chances?
EG: Not bad. From the reception people have given me and the response that I am getting, I think they will recognise the reason why I have come out. In that sense, they will back me to represent them. It’s all about them and nothing to do with me. I am just a representative who will be representing their aspirations and what they want. Their welfare is my priority. Therefore the people should back me and I’ll be through.
TGE: You have worked as a bureaucrat for 19 long years. What triggered your entry into politics?
EG: Various reasons. The principal reason of course is something that happened to me, where a grave injustice was committed and that too very brazenly, as if it could be done just like that to anybody. Then I realised if these things can happen to me having worked at the highest level and for so many years, then it can happen to anybody else. That is the reason I said that there is a failure and that failure you cannot be corrected when you are inside. You have to correct it from outside. Also, I have already done a sufficiently long stint in the bureaucracy and there was nothing more to look forward to.
TGE: AAP doesn’t have a local leader. Would you like to be the face of AAP in Goa?
EG: Having decided to join the party, if the responsibility is given to me, I will take it.
TGE: You have no experience in electoral politics. How do you look forward to the upcoming elections?
EG: I said in the beginning that this is not a political process, although it is actually a political process. But we don’t look at it as that. We will go before the people. They are completely dissatisfied. And I think people will not care about who is experienced and who is not. We have seen that people who are experienced have been there for years either as MLAs or ministers, but at the end of it, people are dissatisfied. So we just go before them as novices and I think that acceptability will be there because it is seen as things stand today.
TGE: AAP prefers going back to people for referendums. You have been into the administration. Is it possible to run the government with constant referendums?
EG: At the end of the day, it is peoples’ welfare. Traditionally we see that the government, whoever constitutes or makes the government, they work for themselves, rather than the people. This is why dissatisfaction has been growing. So consulting people beforehand about their needs and aspirations is needed. And I think AAP has done the right thing by going to people in every constituency through the process of dialogues. A lot of information has been recorded. And with that kind of data, drafting manifestos becomes easier. And manifestos are not single manifestos which come on the eve of elections as far as other parties are concerned and which are hardly followed. Post elections, if you compare the manifestos and the performance of governments in the past, there is a complete mismatch. With AAP every person at the regional level becomes responsible to see that effect is given to what people need in that particular area. So the referendum is quite valid.
TGE: If so, how do you look at empowering gram sabhas?
EG: I look at the empowerment of gram sabhas as mandated in the Constitution. So once these things are mandated, democracy has to go to the grassroots. I think devolution of powers becomes very important. People sitting in the capital need not do things which are required to be done by the local body.
But the question remains about regulating them. Yes, there have been instances where gram sabhas have become unruly. But then mechanisms can be designed where gram sabhas are free and fair, where people are not influenced when they talk and give their views very independently. And finally if the gram sabhas want something in their area, nobody should go against them.
