It's not often that politics in neighbouring Karnataka affects power equations in Goa. But in recent years with both the national parties -- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress -- the two dominant political forces in the two States choosing to appoint Karnataka politicos to helm their parties' respective affairs in Goa, it is quite natural the ripples of Kannadiga politics will be felt here.
For the Congress, the fallout happened even before the recent Karnataka elections could get hot, when the grand old party replaced its general secretary in-charge of Goa Dinesh Gundu Rao with their Tamil Nadu MP, Maneckam Tagore, when the Mhadei issue flared up in December last year.
The saffron party, however, made no change then and persisted with CT Ravi to manage the party's Goa affairs. But it is unlikely to persist with the status quo for too long given that Ravi faced a humiliating defeat in his own assembly constituency at last month's hustings. And the change, if and when it happens, is threatening to skake up the internal political equilibrium of the saffron party as well as in the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet.
If a singing bird, which often mingles in the corridors of power is to be believed, a few of the ministers are beginning to get restless with the inevitable prospect of the BJP high command replacing CT Ravi as the Goa desk in-charge. These guys, with ambitions that outsize their political stature or caliber by a yard are getting restless over a scenario where there will be no CT Ravi to do their bidding, the brid has been heard singing.
Conciciding with the anticipated easing out of CT Ravi, is a grapevine agog with rumours that a cabinet reshuffle is in the offing to finally give the two heavyweights -- Digambar Kamat and Aleixo Sequeira -- their part of the deal struck when the mass defections of Congress MLAs happened in September last year.
In the saffron party ranks, meanwhile, a number of folks are anxiously awaiting the impending exit of CT Ravi and the appointment of his replacement to bag a better bargain for themselves with Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar's term coming to an end. We don't have much on the internal turbidity in the saffron waters but we will update readers as soon as we get solid information.
CM rolls the 'Hindutva' dice
If we were to apply the BJP's logic of labelling every criticism as an "attack on India" as its IT cell often does with Rahul Gandhi's critique of PM Narendra Modi, the saffron party or RSS, then the party in power itself becomes an easy target for humorous generalisations in the face of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's 'wipe out Portuguese vestiges' tantrum.
During the commemoration of the 350th coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on Tuesday, Sawant declared that his government is in the process of wiping out traces of the Portuguese influence in Goa after 60 years of liberation, to start afresh.
How will he go about demolishing the majestic and architecturally marvelous edifices left behind by the 450 years of Portuguese rule, many are asking.
The fort and the former jail now a much sought after heritage venue at Aguada, for starters? The administrative buildings which house the civic bodies at least of two major cities in South Goa -- Mormugao and Margao -- for that matter.
And what about the sense of dress, cuisine, song, dance and a whole load of other Goan traits largely influenced by the centuries of colonial domination over the territory?
Sawant and his government may also have to set up a dedicated office to handle the demand for name change when the Fernandes's, D'Souza's, Noronha's, D'Costas, Pereira's et al line up to be rechristened as Naik, Kamat, Desai or a Gaonkar.
Netizens and social media freaks have had their fill targeting Sawant's statement with these questions and more. And they are not done yet with their trolling, with many of them sensing that the CM, hardly meant to do what he said and it was a statement to kick start a strategy the BJP often relies on to earn electoral dividends -- Hard Hindutva. Understandable, what with Lok Sabha 2024 fast approaching....
... but G20 delegates at Panaji's Latin Quarter
Hardly had Chief Minister Pramod Sawant finished his speech at the Shivaji Jayanti event where he spoke of wiping out the vestiges of the Portuguese influence on Goa and his team handling the hosting logistics for the G20 delegates played deaf to their boss's 'wipe out all Portuguese influence' diktat.
The babus from the protocol department were seen the same day guiding the delegates from more than two-dozen countries in the pretty little Latin Quarter of Panaji -- Fontainhas-Mala and Sao Tome.
If the CM is serious about it, we will know very soon.... heads will roll in the protocol department and those managing the logistics for the G20 delegates. If not, it is just that: plain rhetoric and a political gimmick.
