HISTORICALLY, VARIOUS lobbies have played a major role in elections in Goa. The mining lobby has been making major contributions to the political kitty of all political parties ever since liberation. During the tenure of Shashikala Kakodkar, it was the transport lobby which was the major financier of elections. Following the overthrow of Pratapsingh Rane in the early 90s after a coup staged by Churchill Alemao financed by builders like Cajetan Cordeiro, it was builders who became kingmakers. In the Babush era, it was land sharks from various parts of the country who pulled the strings. In the forthcoming elections, it is not just possible but probable that the Russian and Israeli drug mafia will call the shots. Yaniv Benaim, alias Atala — with his close links to Roy Naik if not Home Minister Ravi Naik — no doubt contributes heavily to the election war chest of Ravi Naik and his group. South Goa politicians like Churchill Alemao and Miccky Pacheco will probably be offered large amounts of money by the Russian drug mafia, which has been on the back foot consequent to Ravi Naik fully backing the Israeli drug mafia. The state may not get a Lokayukta in the foreseeable future, but it already has a drugayukta in Atala who has been brought all the way from Peru to bolster the chances of Ravi Naik and company in the forthcoming assembly election.

HISTORY IS all set to repeat itself. It may be recalled that about a decade ago Manohar Parrikar formed the first BJP government in the state of Goa after first encouraging Francisco Sardinha to stage a revolt against the Luizinho Faleiro-led Congress government and subsequently toppling the Sardinha government to take over the kodel of the chief minister himself. Which is precisely what Manohar Parrikar is planning to do this time with Churchill Alemao and Babush Monserrate as his accomplices. The photograph which appeared on the front page of the Gomantak Times’ Weekender with Parrikar seated in the front seat of his official car with Churchill Alemao doing the backseat driving is symbolic of the shape of things to come after the forthcoming assembly elections in Goa or even as early as in October when the last assembly session of the current legislature is scheduled.

IF THE salt itself loses its flavour, wherewith shall the salt be salted, said the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. If the voter himself is corrupt, how can you expect elected representatives to be clean and corruption free? I recall that almost a decade ago when we were taking a break at the Bambolim Beach Resort, the present Minister for Power Aleixo Sequeira gave the better three-quarters Tara Narayan a long lecture on how the voters forced the elected representatives to be corrupt. Which, unfortunately, is the bitter ground reality in Goa today. In the case of Goa, the Anna movement against corruption should insist that every voter in the state should take a pledge not to demand or accept any inducements from those seeking elections at any level, whether it is the panchayat elections, the civic elections, the Zilla Parishad elections, the Assembly elections or the Parliamentary elections.

YOUNG AND old from all over the country joined the Anna movement for a strong Lokpal bill. An exceptional number of young people who normally shunned agitations and are happier twittering and blogging joined the agitation. So did professionals, some of them even taking leave to join the protesters at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi where Anna undertook an epic fast lasting 12 days. For the first time, captains of industry ranging from the much respected Narayan Murthy of Infosys and the most reputed banker, Deepak Parekh extended support to team Anna. Not just individual industrialists ranging from Rahul Bajaj to Azim Premji lauded the citizen’s protest against corruption, but for the first time ever the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) extended support to the mass movement against corruption. A mass movement which forced Members of Parliament cutting across party lines to pass a unanimous resolution agreeing to the three demands of Team Anna which had threatened to derail the talks between the anti corruption movement and the central government.

ON SATURDAY, a colleague whose grandmother stays in New Vaddem went to look at the site of the conflagration that had broken out for the second time in 12 hours which, but for the Navy, could have destroyed the houses of thousands of Goans and migrants. She sent me an SMS message: “Why don’t you ask all those protesting against the criminal treatment of Anna Hazare and the Lok Pal bill to go and protest against the management of Zuari Industries and Zuari Indian Oil Tankers Limited (ZIOTL) for their criminal irresponsibility in endangering the lives and property of the residents of Vasco.” In the case of the act of arson by residents of Balli, which claimed the lives of two young tribal activists, a case of murder was registered against Deepak Faldesai. Indeed, in the Balli incident, the police even went to the extent of filing complaints of murder against the leaders of the tribes. But in the case of Zuari Industries and ZIOTL, who have been endangering the lives of a large section of the population of Vasco, only non cognisable offences have been registered against ZIOTL officials and one of the contractors of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Forget about arresting the president of Zuari Industries and the Managing Director of ZIOTL, the officials concerned were not even summoned for interrogation over criminal negligence which endangered the lives not only of the largely migrant residents of Varunapuri, Navel Enclave which has been encroached on and has become a large slum, but also the residents of Mangor where the fire broke out the second time. All that has happened is that Chief Minister Digamber Kamat has ordered an enquiry into the incident which will no doubt be dismissed by the Deputy Collector of Vasco, as in the case of the incident of arson at Balli.

IN HER book on the cultural revolution that was initiated by Chairman Mao, economist Joan Robinson points out that the underlying principle was ‘bombard the headquarters’. Chairman Mao, who was the father of the revolution in China which overthrew the monarchy and put in its place a Marxist regime, discovered that freedom and liberty had turned into license. Mao discovered, as the comrades in West Bengal did in more recent times, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The very leaders who were entrusted with the responsibility of creating an ideal state, which will bring maximum benefit to the actual workers whether in paddy fields or factories, had forsaken their ideals and started behaving like dictators. Far worse, the party cadres had got involved in looting and plundering the very people who they were supposed to liberate from capitalist oppression. Instead of the workers state, which Mao had envisaged, the administration had deteriorated to the extent that the new rulers had become oppressors. Mao, who was then the head of the communist party and enjoyed absolute power over both the party and the administration discovered, that he was increasingly helpless in trying to control the officials and party cadres. What was meant to be the People’s Republic had become a monster which was oppressing and repressing the very people they were expected to serve.

THE PRINCIPAL Goan link to the illegal iron ore exports scam in which the Karnataka Lok Ayukta Santosh Hegde has indicted two former chief ministers, BS Yeddyurappa and H D Kumaraswamy, is Vinod Goel, who runs a company by the name of Twenty First Century Wire Rods Ltd at the Madkai industrial estate in Goa. The web site of Twenty Century Wire Rods Ltd, which also has units in Silvasa, describes itself as a trading company which has been in business for the past 30 years. The company claims that it is eager to find long term buyers for iron ore. The company claims that it has vast deposits of iron ore and is able to supply the same in any quantity to anyone in the world. Among the other dubious reasons for which Twenty First Century Wire Rods Ltd was in the news a few months ago was the death of four of its migrant labourers when one of the blast furnaces in its Madkai factory exploded. Presumably, no action has been taken against the company for the wilful negligence which caused the death of four migrants.

WHEN Pratima Coutinho defeated the Alemaos’ candidate, Xavier Fialho, by five votes, one of the local dailies declared it a ‘vijay’ or victory of Vijay Sardesai, the general secretary of the Congress, who had backed Pratima against Xavier Fialho. Who was actually a surrogate for Valanka, who was the original candidate of the Alemao parivar for the post of president of the Goa Pradesh Youth Congress Committee. Unfortunately for the Alemaos, Valanka was disqualified by the Youth Congress Election Committee for actively canvassing with senior party leaders, including her father and uncle the PWD and the Urban Development ministers respectively, and even the Chief Minister Digamber Kamat. Unfortunately for the Alemao parivar and the Chief Minister, one of the party workers present had videotaped the meeting in a Margao hotel where Digamber Kamat had openly pledged support for the candidature of Valanka Alemao.

IT ALL started with the Rajya Sabha election. With Shantaram Naik completing his term of six years in the Rajya Sabha, the seat had fallen vacant. I understand that the president of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi, was very keen on nominating Luizinho Faleiro, general secretary of the AICC in charge of the North East, as the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections. Apparently, Sonia Gandhi has been very happy with Luizinho Faleiro’s performance in keeping Congress governments intact in the North East and his efforts at destabilising the CPM government in Manipur. The incumbent Minister for the North East has been very ill for some time now and Sonia Gandhi apparently had also decided to induct Luizinho Faleiro into the cabinet as the Minister in charge of the North East. The only question mark was whether it would be possible to get Luizinho Faleiro elected to the Rajya Sabha from Goa.

The outcome of the forthcoming elections to the Legislative Assembly of Goa, which is widely expected to be held in the first week of January, will not depend either on the Congress or whether there is an alliance between the Congress and the NCP or an alliance between the BJP and the MGP. It is almost certain now that Chief Minister Digamber Kamat will call for the dissolution of the Assembly after a one-day budget session in September, which will give him the advantage of being the caretaker chief minister till the elections are held. Though elections are due in Goa only in June 2012, when the tenure of the present Assembly expires, given the political situation, our sources confirm that elections will be held in the first week of January. ELECTION fever has already gripped Goa, as dramatised by the fact that various aspiring candidates from various constituencies are sponsoring huge supplements in the daily newspapers. Cases in point being the supplements that appeared coinciding with the birthday of Yuri Alemao, son of Joaquim Alemao, and Valanka Alemao, the daughter of Churchill Alemao.