Months before the February 2022 Assembly elections, Michael Lobo was blowing hot and cold. Still a member of the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet then, when all and sundry were already in poll mode, Lobo was sounding more an Opposition Leader than he does now, when he is actually donning the Opposition Leader's hat.
However, that is not the point of this tit-bit. Our purpose of focussing yet again on these ongoing Vishwajit v/s Michael fireworks, is to get to the genesis of what has prompted it.
Let's go back to last year, in the September-October period. In a bid to placate a belligerent Michael, the Opposition Leader of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, had rushed to his residence in the morning and by evening, the Fadnavis-Michael duo were on a flight to Delhi.
Once in the national capital, Michael was taken to the residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who for almost an hour lectured the intemperate Goa politician not to quit the saffron party.
A couple of weeks later he took the plunge and dived into the Congress, assured of the Siolim ticket for his better half, Delilah. Clearly he had rubbed Shah the wrong way and the fallout is leaving a bitter taste in the Opposition Leader's mouth.
Now, Vishwajit flaunting his meeting with the Union Home Minister on Wednesday, has clearly exposed the indelible Shah imprint on his ongoing tirade against Michael, who is desperately trying to grasp on to an invisible Olive branch he hopes will protrude out from Mahalaxmi in Altinho. Only, it doesn't seem there's gonna be any. Not yet, at least.
Caught on the wrong foot
The ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the new Raj Bhavan, graced by a gagged President Ram Nath Kovind, had a few politicians caught on the wrong foot. Kovind did lay the foundation stone for the second Raj Bhavan but did not say a word.
As the host, Governor Sreedharan Pillai later explained, the process to elect Kovind's successor has entered a phase that requires the incumbent to stay mum.
There were two other local politicians that were caught in piquant situations -- Viresh Borkar, the lone MLA of Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) and Francisco Sardinha, the South Goa MP of the Congress.
Hours after the event, Borkar was confronted by video journalists prodding him to express his stance on the new Raj Bhavan, a project which is being slammed as unnecessary and wasteful expenditure for the cash-strapped State. Cornered, the young politician wriggled out with a bland explanation that he attended the function as a mark of respect for the President, the trademark 'uzzo' well and truly doused by the arrival of a truant monsoon.
Sardinha, on the other hand, happened to be the only leader of the Congress which has been bitterly critical of the new Raj Bhavan proposal, who attended the function. His presence there left a party functionary of his, Amarnath Panjikar, red-faced. Panjikar went ga-ga on Twitter that no Congress leader attended the the inaugural ceremony only to promptly get a reply on the micro-blogging site from Hemant Golatkar of the BJP who posted the photo of Sardinha greeting the Prez at the event. Panjikar was left with no option but to proffer Viresh Borkar's retort: "His presence was out of respect for the President".
Koslio fottashi re Sudin bab!
Power can make people say strange things. The Power Ministry can make things even worse.
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar, as Power Minister, appears to have shed his environmentalist hat for good -- or at least for the time being -- with his support to the Tanmar project.
In the run up to the elections, Dhavalikar was part of the opposition which participated in the protests against the three linear projects, including the Tanmar power project. At the time, he had accused Chief Minister Pramod Sawant of trying to assault Goa's environment by supporting the three projects.
Now, back in the familiar comforts of the cabinet and serving under the command of the same Chief Minister, who he had so virulently targetted, Dhavalikar is now gung ho about the private power project. On Thursday, Dhavalikar claimed that he was unaware about the wonders of the project and its importance for Goa, before he joined the cabinet and was familiarised with its importance.
Perhaps it is not just the case of Dhavalikar switching hats, but his spectacles too, given the 'new light' in which he has begun to see the world in.
Joshua on cloud 7, party on 9
The BJP which takes pride in calling itself a disciplined party was forced to swallow part of that pride after its youngest MLA refused to play ball on sharing the spoils of the office among MLAs.
While some first time MLAs bagged chairmanship of key corporations, Mapusa MLA Joshua D’Souza who won the seat for the second time was re-appointed as the Vice-Chairman of Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC).
For the uninitiated, the post is merely decorative, as the CM heads it and calls all the shots.
Upset at being given a royal snub, for almost two months, Joshua refused to take charge as Vice Chairman of GSIDC. The party tried everything to convince the smarting MLA by even offering him the deputy speaker’s post which he rejected.
Finally, the party was forced to offer the chairmanship of faraway Mormugao Planning and Development Authority to the young MLA. Joshua is now on cloud 7 and the party on cloud 9 that the standoff has ended.
It can safely be said that all’s well that ends well, for now.
Dhavalikar in contractor mode
It is no secret that Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar was a top-notch government contractor before he took the political plunge. On Thursday, this 'contractor' side of him was oozing out of his speech at the event to inaugurate a solar power project at the Secretariat.
Speaking at the inauguration with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on the dais, Dhavlikar vented his ire at some 'Delhi contractors' who he said bag tenders in the State but do not turn up to take up the work. Many in the local administrative setup "help" these 'Delhi Contractors'.
When he took up the matter with the Union Power and Renewable Energy minister R K Singh recently, the latter promptly blacklisted such contractors, according to the minister.
"I am proud to say that within three days the Central minister took action and blacklisted them," says Dhavalikar but does not throw light on what action he proposes to take against those in the local administrative setup who he says help these 'Delhi Contractors' manipulate the tendering system. How then, would another set of favourite contractors survive?
(Compiled by Ashley do Rosario with inputs from Agnelo Pereira, Amit Pokre and Mayabhushan Nagvenkar)
