It would have been unimaginable just a few weeks ago. But although numerically of little significance, the coming together of the opposition parties on the eve of the Budget Session, made the difference in collectively raising issues and keeping the ruling benches in check, despite their brute numbers.
Given the inherent differences among the parties, the attempt to cobble up a united front has definitely provided the opposition more teeth in this Assembly session.
Five days is too short a period to assess the performance of the legislators in the House. Nevertheless, for the first time there was near perfect coordination among the Opposition MLAs in the Assembly.
The group of 10 “ five MLAs of Congress, three of Goa Forward Party, one of MGP and an Independent MLA “ stood shoulder to shoulder with their colleague Rohan Khaunte who was arrested in the dead of the night on some frivolous charges when the assembly session was on.
That there were differences on issues among the MLAs was obvious on the very first day of the Assembly.
When the opposition decided to oppose the government’s motion to congratulate the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister for bringing the Citizen Amendment Act, the lone MGP MLA, Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavlikar refused to walk out of the House with nine of his colleagues from the opposition.
If that one incident can be considered an aberration, in the remainder of the sessions there was near unanimity among the opposition MLAs in the House.
The performance of the two former allies of the BJP “ Fatorda MLA, Vijai Sardesai and Porvorim MLA, Rohan Khaunte who were unceremoniously dropped from the cabinet last year was impeccable.
From Mhadei water diversion issue to financial bungling, the two missed no opportunity to virtually tear the government apart on the floor of the House. They were vocal and incisive while dissecting the performance of the government in the State.
For reasons better known to him, Fatorda MLA, Vijai Sardesai appears more convincing when he is in the opposition then on the ruling benches.
Leader of Opposition, Digambar Kamat in his characteristic style did raise issues but Sardesai and Khaunte hogged the limelight in the opposition benches. Congress MLA, Aleixo Reginald Lourenco was also there but not as blunt as the Fatorda and Porvorim MLAs.
MGP legislator, Sudin Dhavlikar did have his share of glory when he slammed the panchayat minister for issuing the controversial circulars to panchayats which were later withdrawn.
That the group of 10 meant business was evident when all joined forces to protest the mid-night arrest of Rohan Khaunte and effected four adjournments on Thursday the day when CM was to present the budget.
The CM finally did present the budget and made a one-hour speech in the House but not before the entire group of Opposition MLAs were escorted out of the House.
Among the treasury benches, Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant did manage to put on a brave face and responded to every barb thrown at him by the opposition. Panchayat Minister, Mauvin Godinho also stood up to the opposition challenge.
Sawant sticks to ‘agenda’ with pro-CAA motion
It was the Assembly session that made Goa the first state in the country to pass a congratulatory motion in honour of the two people “ Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah “ who “successfully passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019” in both Houses of Parliament.
To drive home the perception that it was the minorities who were purportedly backing the CAA in Goa, the BJP made sure that it was none other than the turncoat Panjim MLA Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate and Saxtti’s Cuncolim MLA Clafacio Dias, who moved the motion.
Never mind that Catholics in Goa (minus a few like Emidio Pinho) came out in thousands, backed by the Catholic Church itself, to oppose the ultra-controversial CAA. But then, what do the voices of voters matter once the MLA is elected?
The Opposition legislators led by their leader Digambar Kamat staged a walkout on the day the congratulatory motion was moved - much in the fashion that people leave whatsapp groups when pro-BJP, pro-Modi, pro-CAA posts are forwarded by ‘bhakts’ (yes forwarded, cause God-forbid they actually think for themselves and send their own thoughts guided by their own conscience).
Kamat claimed that the walkout was on account of Speaker Patnekar not allowing a discussion on the CAA, and instead admitting the congratulatory motion.
And so the “United Opposition” walked out, instead of taking the more difficult route of actually standing up, and speaking out against the CAA with hard facts from history and from Assam, with concrete reasons as to why the congratulatory motion should not indeed be passed.
If any of the Opposition MLAs had listened to former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan articulate his mind on CAA in Goa a few days earlier, they might actually have been clearer about why they themselves are opposing it, or they would have known that it’s better to stand up and speak out, than walk away.
By walking away, what has happened is that now, the people of Goa clearly know what is in the minds of the BJP legislators who support CAA and the reasons they support it, while they are still hazy about whether the Opposition MLAs know why they are opposing the CAA, or whether they are opposing it simply because non-BJP parties across India are opposing it.
Then there is the question of the BJP Catholic MLAs who chose to sit on the fence even in the House, and preferred not to speak in support of the congratulatory motion “ notably Alina Saldanha, and Carlos Almeida, and the Congress defectors Filipe Neri Rodrigues, Jennifer Monserrate, Tony Fernandes, Wilfred D’Sa and also the seven ‘original’ BJP Catholic legislators stood by the CAA loud and clear, caring two hoots to what the Church had to say on the matter. Vishwajit Rane chose to stay away from the “politics” of the CAA by not speaking out in favour of it. Rane, who does not hail from the Sanghi ranks has consistently chosen to duck away from the CAA debate. Churchill Alemao, the NCP MLA who supports the government too, preferred to keep silent in the House about the CAA.
When it was time for Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to speak, he chose to contradict what his Delhi boss had said in Parliament. Sawant said several times that there was “no need” for him to talk about the National Register for Citizens (NRC) as no one has spoken of implementing it nationwide.
This begs several questions : Is the Chief Minister aware of what Amit Shah said in Parliament, and several times outside Parliament too? And, if yes, has he deliberately contradicted Shah and thinks the general public in Goa does not know what goes on in Delhi?
Either way, Sawant’s “no one spoke of NRC” comment in the Assembly is puzzling and raises more questions than it gives any answers.
Contradicting Shah seems to be the rule, rather than an exception in the BJP, as even the Prime Minister himself embarrassed the party by publicly saying no one spoke of the NRC. But unlike Sawant who did it on the floor of the House, Modi did it outside Parliament at the rally he addressed at Ramlila Maidan to launch the BJP’s election campaign in Delhi. Back home in the Goa legislature meanwhile, the united group of 10 definitely gave a new impetus to the opposition in the House. But whether or not this formula of unity will be carried forward outside the House too or how long it will last inside, is a question only time can answer. If it does last, however, parliamentary democracy will get a big fillip in Goa.
Budget “ seeking ideas from people a farce?
Of the 400-odd suggestions received from the general public for inclusion in the Goa Budget, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said just two or three were actually incorporated in the budget document. Even of these, he identified only one “ the double entry accounting system for self-governing bodies -- which came from the Goa body of Chartered Accountants.
Asking for peoples’ suggestions is great in theory, but was the exercise a successful one or was it just an attempt to make the Budget look democratic, when it actually isn’t, is a question Sawant would do well to answer if he hopes to earn brownie points for the novel approach he adopted in the pre-Budget preparation exercise.
