Tag: BJP Goa

Parrikar’s Panaji Seat: Why the Stakes Are so High for the BJP

By-elections to four assembly seats hold the key to the survival of the BJP government in Goa.

Panjim: The BJP, which has hung on to power in Goa through a strategy of engineered defections and more recently the brazen poaching of MLAs from its long-time ally, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), has a lot riding on the outcome of by-elections to four state assembly seats.

Voting for three seats was held on April 23. But it is the election to the Panaji seat that fell vacant after Manohar Parrikar’s death that is turning into a political cliffhanger and a challenge to the survival of the current state government. 

Panaji votes in the last phase on May 19.

Except for the two years he served as defence minister, Parrikar had held the seat since 1994. Retaining the capital is not only a prestige issue for the saffron party but also a leadership test for current chief minister Pramod Sawant, whose choice of candidate for the Parrikar constituency has failed to enthuse the party’s karyakatas.

Also read: BJP’s Dynasty Test in Goa: Will It Endorse Parrikar’s Son’s Legacy Bid?

Turning down Parrikar’s son Utpal’s bid to make his political debut from his father’s seat, the BJP, at the last minute, decided to go with former MLA Siddarth Kuncalienkar who was Parrikar’s aide. While the decision has resonated well with Kuncalienkar’s supporters in the local mandal and spared the party the taint of ‘family raj’, a defeat in Panaji could trigger a challenge to 46-year-old Sawant’s leadership from a gamut of sulking ‘seniors; who’ve pointedly steered clear of the campaign.

This is in clear contrast to the Congress, which had an early start and has brought on board almost all its MLAs to campaign for its candidate, Babush Monserrate. The Congress last won the seat in Goa’s capital 30 years ago. It now senses an opportunity to turn the tables on the BJP, which formed the government in 2017 despite the Congress emerging as the single largest party in that election.    

For all the controversy that usually surrounds him – the BJP has persistently raked up the criminal cases against him – Monserrate’s street-smart politics and the fact he holds sway over Panaji’s municipal corporation has made the saffron party jittery. A day before the filing of nominations, the Congress candidate’s panel also swept the panchayat elections in Taleigao, the constituency next door.

Manohar Parrikar. Credit: Facebook/Manohar Parrikar

What makes the Panaji election all the more interesting is the presence of the former Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar, who is contesting for the Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM), a regional outfit he launched after a falling out with Parrikar.

Though he claims he is not in the fray to merely “cut into the BJP vote” though he believes they will “silently” vote for him, Velingkar has strategically trained his armour against the BJP and Kuncalienkar, holding back against the Congress. In an interview to this journalist some months ago, he blamed BJP president Amit Shah and Parrikar for his sudden sacking from the RSS. 

In a constituency of just over 22,000 voters, the loss of a thousand votes could tilt the scales either way. The Congress too will have to contend with AAP eating into its votes.

Also read: Manohar Parrikar: A Legacy Marred by Political Compromises and U-Turns

The BJP-led government, which currently survives on the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and independents – 14 BJP MLAs, 3 GFP MLAs and 3 independents in a house with the reduced strength of 36 post defections and deaths – could face a reversal of fortunes if it does poorly in the by-polls. The Congress has 14 MLAs, the NCP and MGP one each.

In a bid to steady its fractious political existence during Parrikar’s year-long battle with cancer, the saffron party induced two Congress MLAs to defect. They resigned their seats in October last year. This brought the Congress numbers down from 16 to 14. But two deaths in quick succession – Francis D’Souza and Parrikar – reduced the BJP to 12, making the Congress the single largest party again.

A few days after Parrikar’s death, the saffron party moved to steady its ship once more by splitting the MGP and inducting two of its MLAs into the BJP. The move has been challenged both before the speaker and the courts. But the strong-arm tactics has made its other ally, Goa Forward, jittery as well.

A defeat for the BJP in Panaji would benefit the opposition, but ironically also make way for Utpal Parrikar’s early entry into politics. Snubbed for a ticket, the young claimant to the Parrikar legacy had a hard time concealing his disappointment and bitterness before the ‘in-your-face’ cameras, sarcastically thanking Sawant for finally arriving at a decision.

Just as his father had faced so many hurdles, he had come up against his first one in politics, Utpal told the camera crews. Obviously this is not the last we’ve heard of the Parrikar legacy.

BJP’s Dynasty Test in Goa: Will It Endorse Parrikar’s Son’s Legacy Bid?

In Goa, the BJP is currently up against a curious dilemma: will it encourage Utpal Parrikar’s claim to his father’s political legacy, or will it make a moral point?

‘Dynasty’ and the perpetuation of ‘family rule’ have figured prominently in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election offensive, helping him pillory the Gandhis and more recently the Abdullahs and Muftis in the Jammu leg of his campaign.

But in Goa, the BJP is currently up against a curious dilemma: will it encourage Utpal Parrikar’s claim to his father’s political legacy, or will he be denied the ticket for the by-election to Manohar Parrikar’s seat to make a moral point of it?

Utpal, the older son of the former Goa chief minister, is currently campaigning for BJP’s Lok Sabha candidates. But he is also the “front-runner” – his media supporters claim – for the BJP nomination to contest the Panaji assembly seat that fell vacant after Manohar Parrikar’s death last month. The Panaji election will be held on May 19. Voting for the two Goa Lok Sabha seats and three other by-polls takes place on April 23.

Also read: Not Just Congress, BJP and Regional Parties Play Dynasty Politics Too

From a complete outsider to politics, diligently distanced from both party affairs and running of government by the former CM, Utpal has shot to political prominence in less than a month of Manohar Parrikar’s passing away. Soon after their father’s death, both Parrikar’s sons, Utpal and Abhijaat, made public their intent “to continue his legacy of service and dedication to the state and the nation”. 

The statement took family friends completely by surprise, giving the former Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar a handle to take a dig at Utpal, saying he was “a thorough gentleman” but hardly “political material”. Velingkar who was once close to Parrikar said the former chief minister “had never nurtured his sons for a future in politics. He didn’t even allow them to set foot in the Sachivalaya.”

But the 39-year-old Utpal who has a masters in engineering from the US and runs a business in manufacturing bone implants for the export market has proved a quick learner and politically astute to seize the day, aware no doubt as everyone is, of the BJP’s paucity of leaders in Goa post-Parrikar.

Utpal Parrikar. Credit: Narayan Pissurlekar

Utpal’s first test will be getting the nomination. Will the Modi-Shah power centre be willing to field him in an election right away and invite criticism of perpetuating ‘family raj’, a slogan coined by the BJP itself to pin down the Congress in Goa’s 2012 election?

Even if the BJP does indeed give Utpal the Panaji ticket, the bigger test will be to get past the main opponent, Babush Monserrate.

With the Goa Forward Party (GFP), a partner in the BJP-led government, till a day ago, the unpredictable Monserrate is a veteran of many political contests and a well-travelled politician in the sense of changing parties at least five times. He’s won elections several times from other constituencies but lost out narrowly to the BJP in Panaji in March 2017. When Parrikar returned to head the Goa government in 2017, Monserrate withdrew from the contest in the June 2017 by-poll in what was seen as “match-fixing” to allow the former defence minister an easy contest against the Congress.

Also read: Manohar Parrikar: A Legacy Marred by Political Compromises and U-Turns

But this is a different ball game, Monserrate told The Wire. “Come what may, I will be contesting the Panaji seat.”

Monserrate joined the Congress on Thursday to get the party’s nomination for the constituency. His campaign is already in top gear, he says. He scoffs at Parrikar junior’s legacy bid.

Manohar Parrikar, he says, never mentioned his sons, and it was in fact former BJP MLA Siddarth Kunkolienkar who nurtured the constituency in Parrikar’s absence. Let the voters decide if they want to continue with the legacy or opt for development, which is lacking in the capital city, he says.

Goa Forward Party’s Babush Monserrate. Credit: The Wire

What makes Monserrate a tough opponent is his grip on the city’s municipal corporation where his panel holds the majority. Parrikar had held the Panaji seat from 1994, but in two elections his margins of victory were a narrow 1,000-odd votes over the Congress, often necessitating backroom deals between the BJP leader and Monserrate.

A small coterie within the BJP attempted to scuttle Utpal’s succession bid, putting out a letter that said “the party and some people need to be reminded of the fact that party which opposes ‘family Raj’ is trying the same family Raj in Panaji in lust for power” (the BJP claimed the letter was a plant by its political opponents). But some of the party’s dominant supporters believe Utpal could well benefit from the sympathy factor after Parrikar’s year-long battle with cancer.

Also read: Congress Tries to Pre-Empt President’s Rule; Stakes Claim to Form Govt in Goa

Whether he stands for elections next month or not, it is apparent that Parrikar’s son – political experience or not – is here for the long haul. And he is clearly eyeing a much larger role within the BJP. Earlier this week he took on NCP leader Sharad Pawar for saying that Parrikar had returned to Goa because he disagreed with the Rafale deal. 

“This is yet another unfortunate and insensitive attempt to invoke my father’s name…and speak lies,” he said, calling it “a new low in Indian political discourse”.

In response to Velingkar’s jibe that he was a complete political novice, Utpal said he had watched his father work. The BJP in Goa had practically “grown in our house”, he said, adding that the party had now replaced his parents as family.

BJP’s Pramod Sawant to Take on Mantle of Goa CM, Say Reports

The BJP and its allies reportedly reached a consensus late Monday evening on the name of the new Goa chief minister.

New Delhi: Pramod Sawant, the Goa Speaker who was considered to be the frontrunner for the chief minister’s chair alongside BJP leader Vishwajit Rane, after the death of Manohar Parrikar on Sunday, has reportedly been picked by the party and its allies to take on the mantle of CM.

According to NDTV, Sudin Dhavalikar and Vijai Sardesai will be the deputy chief ministers.

The BJP and its allies reportedly reached a consensus late Monday evening on the name of the new Goa chief minister.

In fact, Sawant’s Wikipedia page has already been edited calling him the new chief minister after  Manohar Parrikar.

Pramod Sawant’s Wikipedia page.

Four-time Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar was laid to rest at Miramar Beach on Monday next to the memorial of the state’s first CM Dayanand Bandodkar.

On Monday, Congress MLAs had also met the Governor of Goa, Mridula Sinha on Monday and staked their claim to form a government in the coastal state.

The opposition party had earlier written to Sinha, staking a claim to form the government on Friday and then again on Sunday.

The Congress is currently the single largest party in the state with 14 MLAs, while the BJP has 12 in the 40-member assembly.

The strength of the House has now been reduced to 36 due to the demise of BJP MLA Francis D’Souza earlier this year and the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday along with the resignations of two Congress MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte last year.

The Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) have three MLAs each, while the NCP has one. There are three independents as well.

(With inputs from PTI)

Manohar Parrikar: A Legacy Marred by Political Compromises and U-Turns

Parrikar not only cultivated a support base for the BJP in Goa, but a personality cult around himself. This is sure to leave a leadership vacuum and uncertainty in the state for the months to come.

Panjim: It may sound like something of a contradiction. But Manohar Parrikar, who had four incomplete terms as chief minister of Goa – one as short as a year and three months – was never more popular than when he served as leader of opposition in the state assembly.

As a journalist who’s had a ringside view of political events in the state, I believe the Goa BJP leader who passed away Sunday was at the pinnacle of his political trajectory not when he became the country’s defence minister in December of 2014 – a position that displayed his shortcomings and discomfort on the larger political stage – or when he became chief minister in 2012 with a first-time majority for the BJP, but in the years preceding, when he sensed opportunity in the politics of dissent and protest and used it to full hilt to disarm critics and win over skeptics, some of them on the other side of the communal divide.

But it was an avatar he came to soon abandon when in power, giving in to some of the most reviled lobbies in Goa: the iron ore miners who had run amok in interior Goa, necessitating a Supreme Court order to call a halt to all mining in the state; and the casinos, which far from winding down play came to increase in numbers under BJP governments from 2012 to the present.

Also Read: Goa Chief Minister and Former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Dies

A local newspaper on Monday listed a litany of the U-turns taken while Parrikar was in power. To thousands of voters swayed by the promise of a sustainable development plan and action against miners and casinos, it was the ultimate betrayal. Their anger registered loudly in the anti-BJP vote in March 2017, when the saffron party slid from 21 seats to a mere 13 in a House of 40.

But in a display of brute power, the BJP still managed to take over the government and return Parrikar to his fourth term in office. This is a glaring fact that the BJP-applauding media conveniently overlooks in its gushing praise of the “IITian-chief minister”.

The single-leader cult of Parrikar

A political nonentity till the BJP’s first four-seat strike in the state assembly in 1994, Parrikar came into politics accidentally via the Sangh, says the former Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar.

“During the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, he led around 700 kar sevaks from Goa. Few know that Manohar’s mother was one of the kar sevaks and after the Babri Masjid was brought down and Congress government decided to send military to lathi-charge the sleeping kar sevaks, Manohar’s mother was among those who were beaten up,” Velingkar told the Times of India.

Parrikar’s unapologetic attachment to the Sangh invoked such a deep distrust of the BJP among Catholics and the church in Goa that the party failed to attract any “minority” candidates for years. The BJP MLA Francis D’Souza, who passed away last month, was the lone exception for decades.

The governor of Goa Mridula Sinha and Manohar Parrikar at the inauguration of the 47th International Film Festival of India, in Panaji, Goa, in November 2016. Credit: PIB

Then came a turnaround in 2012. Corruption, rampant mining and casinos had fuelled a tide of resentment against the Congress government led by Digambar Kamat. With the church openly invoking an anti-Congress tirade, Parrikar fielded six Catholic candidates for the first time. All six won and with the help of the church and Goa’s paid-news factory, the BJP had finally breached the threshold of mistrust. Catholics account for a third of the vote in Goa.

Does Parrikar deserve the moniker of “Goa’s tallest leader”? A political cult is easy to build on with some mindless media amplification. And that, precisely, has been the case with Parrikar supported by a national media so divorced from the ground realities in Goa.

Ironically, it is the Sangh man, Velingkar who puts the Parrikar legacy into perspective when he says that Parrikar had “moved away from his core principles” and distanced himself from the public expectation that he would have turned out to be an “ethical leader and a politician with a difference.” The manner in which a coalition was cobbled together in 2017, with some of the BJP’s most trenchant critics and the induction of several corrupt politicians, had not gone down well even with the BJP’s core supporters. 

Driven by high levels of ambition and supported by an undeniably disarming charisma, Parrikar became synonymous with the BJP in Goa. It was a huge advantage for a party that entered Goa’s post-Liberation politics so late. Neither Parrikar nor the BJP played any role in some of the biggest political upheavals that defined the future of Goa: The 1967 referendum (the Opinion Poll vote decided that Goa would not become part of Maharashtra), the language agitation of the ‘80s that got official status for Konkani and statehood that came in 1987.

Also Read: With No Second-Rung Leadership, Parrikar’s Ill Health Sends BJP Scrambling in Goa

Those leaders and the freedom fighters who had spent long years in jail have been conveniently sidelined by those shaping the narrative of the post-truth era. The single-leader cult, as opposed to the perennially squabbling Congress house, gave Parrikar the edge in strategising politically. But in the end, it was more strategy than delivery, and it stunted the BJP’s internal growth.

No second-rung leadership was encouraged or allowed to emerge. So absolute was Parrikar’s dominance within the party in Goa that Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik, who once displayed some feeble ambition, was denied the opportunity to return to state politics. The BJP’s paucity of leaders is now evident. The saffron party has been unable to zero in on any successor even a year after Parrikar had taken ill.

What next for Goa?

Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who’s been camped out in a five-star hotel in Dona Paula from Sunday, has been assigned the task of finding an “acceptable” successor to take over the coalition government. The deaths of two MLAs (Parrikar and D’Souza) has brought down the BJP tally to 12 in a House of 36 (two Congress MLAs had resigned in October to help the BJP’s cause).

Congress delegation meets Governor Mridula Sinha in Panaji. Credit: ANI/Twitter

Congress delegation meets Governor Mridula Sinha in Panaji. Credit: ANI/Twitter

The Congress, which is currently the single-largest party in the Goa house with 14 MLAs, met Governor Mridula Sinha on Monday to stake its claim to form the government. This is the third time the party has made the claim, but Sinha, who played facilitator in the formation of the Parrikar-led coalition government post the 2017 election, has remained stoically indifferent to the Congress case and is expected to act on the advice of the centre. “We have conveyed to you several times that ours is the single largest party in the legislative assembly of Goa…As such I am entitled to receive your invitation to form the government consequent upon the sad demise of Manohar Parrikar,” the Congress’ legislature party head Chandrakant Kavlekar’s appeal to the governor said.

Also Read: Congress Tries to Pre-Empt President’s Rule; Stakes Claim to Form Govt in Goa

Monday evening BJP sources said speaker Pramod Sawant would likely succeed Parrikar as the next chief minister. All that remained was to convince the allies who are uncomfortable with the party’s choice of the RSS man. BJP MLAs like Vishvajit Rane, the son of former Congress chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, who also harbours ambitions of heading the coalition would have little choice but the fall in line. A late evening meeting with Amit Shah would likely resolve the BJP’s leadership crisis, sources said.

Devika Sequeira is a freelance journalist based in Goa.

Congress Tries to Pre-Empt President’s Rule; Stakes Claim to Form Govt in Goa

News of chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s deteriorating health and the BJP’s dwindling tally in the Goa legislative assembly have triggered the latest round of political uncertainty.

Panjim: The Congress on Saturday wrote to Goa Governor Mridula Sinha asking her to dismiss the current coalition government led by chief minister Manohar Parrikar which it claimed had lost the “trust of the people and strength of the House.” As the single largest party, the Indian National Congress should be called to form the government, it said.

The Congress’s strategy is seen as an attempt to pre-empt any moves by the BJP government at the Centre to keep the house in suspended animation or force a dissolution of the current state legislative assembly in the likely event of a leadership vacuum in the saffron party in Goa. 

The letter was signed by the Congress legislature party leader Chandrakant Kavlekar. The party has also asked for an appointment with the governor.

The latest bout political uncertainty in Goa has been triggered by news of Parrikar’s failing health. “With respect to some reports in (the) media, it is hereby stated that honourable chief minister @manoharparrikar’s health parameters continue to remain stable,” his office tweeted this morning.

Despite the denials and official statements that have claimed that Parrikar had been taken to the Goa Medical College (GMC) for a routine check-up and brought home the same day, The Wire has learnt from reliable sources there that the chief minister has spent the last few nights hooked on to a ventilator at the hospital’s ICU unit.

Parrikar was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas over a year ago and has been away for long stretches for treatment in Mumbai, Delhi and the US.

Also  Read: Without Manohar Parrikar, BJP Stares at Bleak Future in Goa

The Congress said in its letter to Sinha that it “anticipates” that “the BJP’s numbers may further dwindle” and a party in the minority should not be allowed to continue to run the government for even a moment.

BJP’s shrinking tally in Goa 

Last month, the death of its long-time MLA and former minister Francis D’Souza brought down the BJP’s tally in the Goa assembly to 13, making the Congress the single-largest party with 14 MLAs in the 37-member House. Two Congress MLAs had resigned from their seats in October last year due to BJP-engineered defections. Those two seats and the vacancy created by D’Souza’s death will see by-elections to three constituencies take place in tandem with the Lok Sabha polls on April 23.

The BJP-led coalition is supported by the Goa Forward, MGP and independents which altogether account for nine seats. But relations between the BJP and MGP have soured considerably over the last few months and the regional party is already campaigning to contest all the three by-poll seats in a bid to queer the pitch for the BJP.  The move follows attempts by the BJP to split its three-member ally which has spooked the MGP.

Goa chief minister, Manohar Parrikar. Credit: Reuters

For the BJP, the critical question currently is: After Parrikar who? Trapped with the legacy of a leader who didn’t believe in nurturing a second line of command, the leadership vacuum in Goa could see the BJP resort to means that are constitutionally questionable for the political future of Goa. It has done so in the past, when it usurped power in March 2017 backed by the heft of the Centre.

Though speaker Pramod Sawant, who has an RSS pedigree, is probably the only one who would fit the bill to succeed Parrikar, the BJP can ill afford to displace him from the crucial position he holds in the house.

Also Read: A Cowshed and Rs 62 Lakh Mercedes: The Dual Face of Goa Governor Mridula Sinha

“In the absence of a chief minister, it is incumbent upon the governor to call on the BJP to provide an alternative. If they fail, she has to call the single largest party,” said Prabhakar Timble, former state election commissioner. But he also pointed out that Sinha’s past actions have signalled her predisposition to “overlook the constitution.”

The BJP’s allies who are dead against the dissolution of the House — just two years of the current term have elapsed — have regrouped to consider their options. “Anything can happen now,” was Goa Forward leader Vijai Sardesai’s reaction. “The first thing on any legislator’s mind is to avoid dissolution.” Survival, he said, was their first instinct.

Devika Sequeira is a freelance journalist based in Goa.

Spectre of Rafale Deal Returns to Haunt Ailing Parrikar in Goa

“The audio clip released by the Congress is a desperate attempt to fabricate facts after their lies were exposed by the recent SC verdict on Rafale. No such discussion ever came up during any meeting,” an official statement from the Goa chief minister’s office said.

Panjim: The spectre of the Rafale controversy, raked up by a recorded conversation that features a Goa minister, couldn’t have come at a worse time for chief minister Manohar Parrikar whose media managers have tried to paint a picture of a leader still very much in command despite his terminal illness.

The Congress on Wednesday released an audio recording of a conversation in which  Goa’s health minister Vishwajit Rane, speaking to an unidentified person, is heard saying that Parrikar had made an “interesting statement on Rafale” in the cabinet meeting that took place at his residence some weeks ago.

Rane can be heard saying that Parrikar said he had all the information on Rafale in his bedroom. “This is something… which he said… that means he is holding them to ransom… He said it’s in my bedroom… here only in the flat… each and every document of Rafale is with me.”

Officially released photo of Parrikar meeting with a few MLAs in his office at secretariat on January 1, 2019.

The recording, which Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala released to the media outside parliament created a stir both in the Lok Sabha and in Goa, with the chief minister and Rane compelled to issue stinging denials.

“The audio clip released by the Congress party is a desperate attempt to fabricate facts after their lies were exposed by the recent Supreme Court verdict on Rafale. No such discussion ever came up during cabinet or any other meeting,” an official statement from Parrikar’s office said.

Also read: Rafale Takes Centerstage in Lok Sabha as Rahul Gandhi, Arun Jaitley Battle It Out

Rane who called a rushed press conference soon as the story broke to say that the tape had been “doctored” said he had spoken to BJP chief Amit Shah and asked for a police investigation into the matter. In a letter addressed to Parrikar he denied there had been a discussion between him “and any other individual in connection with an audio that has become viral regarding the Rafale row”. He said this was the work of someone trying to “play mischief” and those responsible should be brought to book.

He later told The Wire that the tape had been cleverly doctored “to sound very much like me”.

Here in Goa though, most journalists who have great access to ministers and politicians have little doubt that it is indeed Vishwajit Rane on the tape. The only question — somewhat inconsequential at this point —is who is on the other end of the phone line in the taped conversation.

Also read: Goa Minister Said Manohar Parrikar Has Rafale Documents in His Bedroom: Congress

Given its rather poor numerical strength in the Goa assembly and the fragile coalition math that binds its government together, the BJP is unlikely to take a tough stance on Vishwajit Rane for his indiscretion. The son of the former Congress chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, Vishwajit defected to the BJP last year and was soon inducted into the ministry. As things stand politically today, the BJP needs him more than he needs the saffron party in Goa.

But did Parrikar even bring up Rafale at the cabinet meeting — one of few that have taken place since he took ill in February last year? Another cabinet minister confirmed to The Wire that the chief minister did indeed make a passing reference to the Rafale deal, but not in quite the dramatic manner as recorded in the conversation that’s now gone viral. “He made some technical comments and had spoken on the benefits of the deal,” the source who asked that he not be named said.

Also read: During Crucial Rafale Negotiations, PMO Compromised Defence Ministry’s Position

Many believe Rane’s conversation is more a result of his impatience and frustration at being stuck in a non-functioning government. Parrikar has been ruling in absentia for the better part of the last ten months and still continues to hold some forty portfolios, despite a commitment from the party that there would be a portfolio redistribution after the December 11 election results.

On Tuesday, the BJP staged a photo op by bringing a frail chief minister to the state secretariat on New Year’s Day to show that he’s still capable of running a government. The Congress criticised the move as nothing more than an “exhibition”, while others criticised the party and the police for the brazen breach of security that allowed so many party supporters inside the precincts of the Secretariat for the BJP tamasha.

A Cowshed and Rs 62 Lakh Mercedes: The Dual Face of Goa Governor Mridula Sinha

Sinha’s lavish lifestyle has come under the scanner even as the governor’s office continues to stonewall RTIs and critics accuse her of squandering public funds.

Panaji: A few weeks after assuming office in August 2014, Goa governor Mridula Sinha gave the media something to talk about by building a cowshed at Raj Bhavan. She travelled 50 kilometres to a distant village and handpicked a cow and a calf from a gaushala.

Sinha’s daily cow puja ritual at the Raj Bhavan drew applause from the BJP’s Goa unit.

Four years later, the Goa governor is in the news for stonewalling all RTI applications over her extravagant expenditure in office – spending that has little to do with nurturing cows or promoting the prime minister’s Swachh Bharat mission, for which the governor has written a ‘special’ song, slogans and pledges popularising the mission. None of which has made any difference to the reality on the ground and to the garbage piling up in the state by the day.

Also read: More Trouble for BJP in Goa as RSS Rebel Wipes out Shakhas, Vows to Bring Party Down

The governor’s office has now moved the high court to challenge the October 15 order of the state’s chief information commissioner (CIC) ruling that the Goa governor, as a person of public authority, is subject to the Right to Information Act. The case is to come up before the high court on December 10.

This is the only gubernatorial office in the country which has refused to submit to the transparency law, Aires Rodrigues, an activist lawyer and petitioner in the case, argued. He added that even Rashtrapati Bhavan has complied with the Act.

“Instead of strengthening the law, the Goa governor’s office is trying to weaken it,” he told the court.

In his RTI application to Raj Bhavan, Rodrigues had asked for an account of Sinha’s overseas and India travels with her family from the time she assumed office, her expenditure on new cars and details of guests hosted at Raj Bhavan.

He told The Wire that “the governor has converted Goa Raj Bhavan into a BJP dharamshala” by hosting a stream of politicians and politically connected people. Sinha was member of the BJP’s national executive and held charge of the party’s Mahila Morcha till she was appointed as governor.

Amit Shah and Mridula Sinha.

“The governor’s extravagant spending is a criminal waste of public funds for a cash strapped state like Goa,” Rodrigues said, pointing to the Raj Bhavan’s current over 130-member staff. Known for his dogged persistence and with a long record in fighting public interest litigations, Rodrigues says his criticism of misuse of public office is not aimed at any specific political party.

Rodrigues has spent nearly a decade trying to get the Goa Raj Bhavan to comply with RTI. In November 2011 in a lengthy judgement, the high court of Bombay too held that the RTI applied to the governor’s office. But with the Goa Raj Bhavan resisting every RTI application, the case for transparency has been shunted between authorities and courts. 

Also read: Puducherry Assembly Passes Resolution to Limit Powers of LG Kiran Bedi

In the past, the governor has faced criticism over her partisan role in inviting the BJP to form government even when the party lost the elections. Now even RSS cadres are unhappy over Sinha’s “squandering of public money”.

Topping their list of ire is the governor’s Mercedes E200.

Sinha is fond of travelling in a five-car convoy in a state where no governor has ever faced a security risk.

The Mercedes was bought when when Goa was reeling under closure of mines and the overall governance deficit as chief minister Manohar Parrikar continued to rule  in absentia. Pegged at Rs 62 lakh, the Mercedes cost much beyond the ceiling of Rs 21 lakh set by the Goa government for a chief minister’s car.

On top of this, Sinha is fond of travelling in a five-car convoy in a state where no governor has ever faced a security risk.

Also read: Puducherry CM Alleges Corruption in CSR Fund Mobilisation by Raj Nivas

In a fiery public speech some weeks ago, the former Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar came down heavily on the governor’s lavish lifestyle, saying Sinha had come to a point where she no longer even drank “normal” water but only tender coconut water. Government sources confirmed that Raj Bhavan did indeed order some two dozen tender coconuts a day.

Sinha’s tenure has been marked by a string of controversies. The governor once set off a controversy by asking postgrad students to take an oath to not get divorce. 

With the BJP and its allies so dependent on the compliance of the governor to keep the non-functioning Parrikar government afloat, humouring Mridula Sinha must seem but a small price to pay, even if it comes at the expense of public funds.

Manohar Parrikar Wanted to Resign as CM, BJP High Command Said No: Goa Minister

Parrikar, 62, has been recuperating at his residence here since he was discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi on October 14. He is suffering from a pancreatic ailment.

Panaji: Goa Forward Party chief and agriculture minister Vijai Sardesai suggested on Thursday that the ailing chief minister Manohar Parrikar wanted to resign, but the BJP high command vetoed it.

“He wanted to give up the CM’s post altogether. He had even shown an inclination to give away his portfolios (to other ministers) when he was admitted to a hospital during Ganesh Chaturthi festival,” Sardesai said here.

“But then several things happened. BJP high command stepped in….it (to resign or not) is not in his (Parrikar’s) hands entirely,” Sardesai told reporters.

Parrikar, 62, has been recuperating at his residence here since he was discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi on October 14. He is suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Also read: Without Manohar Parrikar, BJP Stares at Bleak Future in Goa

Asked about independent MLA and Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte’s remark that the administration has become sluggish in Parrikar’s absence, Sardesai said, “I have always been saying that CM’s ill-health has had some sort of impact, and it is showing.”

To a question on another alliance partner Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) filing a petition against two former Congress MLAs who joined the BJP, the minister said it was surprising.

MGP has moved the Goa Bench of Bombay high court, seeking to disqualify Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte, former Congress MLAs who recently joined the BJP.

“It is a matter between two constituents of the alliance – BJP and MGP. So we are not concerned with it,” Sardesai said.

“As far as MGP is concerned, its decision to go to the court is surprising….I can believe it is a preemptive move, they (MGP) have not lost anything, Congress has lost two MLAs,” Sardesai said in a cryptic remark.

Speculation was rife earlier that MGP MLAs might join the BJP which does not have a majority on its own in Goa Assembly.

BJP spokespersons were not available for comment on Sardesai’s remarks.

Congress Asks Goa Governor for a Special Session to Prove BJP’s Majority

The Congress called it a “classic case of fraud” being played on the people of Goa by the Centre.

Panaji: The Congress demanded on Saturday that Goa governor Mridula Sinha summon a special session of the legislative assembly and ask the BJP-led coalition government to prove its majority.

The Congress has been claiming that the state government is in disarray in the absence of chief minister Manohar Parrikar from office on account of medical reasons.

Also Read: With No Second-Rung Leadership, Parrikar’s Ill Health Sends BJP Scrambling in Goa

Addressing reporters in Panaji, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the party would raise this issue during the upcoming winter session of Parliament and also before President Ram Nath Kovind.

The Congress had submitted representations to the president and the Goa governor, claiming that the party had the requisite number of MLAs to prove majority in the 40-member House.

“Goa is a classic case of fraud being played on the people of Goa by the governor and the BJP at Centre,” Surjewala said.

“We will put pressure on the central leadership of the BJP in the winter session and also before the president for our demand to summon a special session to prove majority,” he said.

Accusing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Goa of holding the Constitution “captive”, Surjewala said the formation of the Cabinet Advisory Committee by the BJP in absence of Parrikar is a “blatant fraud on the Constitution”.

Also Read: Goa Agriculture Minister Says Parrikar’s Ailment Affecting State’s Administration

The BJP-led state government is supported by the Goa Forward Party, the Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party and three Independent MLAs.