Manohar Parrikar aka late Indira Gandhi style in Goa -- By Nisser Dias

Way back in the 80s when the iron lady of India late Indira Gandhi held the reigns of the country as the Prime minister, Zuari bridge which was completed months before was not being allowed to be used as Mrs. Gandhi could not find time or make time to fly to Goa to inaugurate thereby alleviating the hardships of the commuters who had to depend on the ferry to cross the river.

Ultimately it took the grit and guts of an IPS lady police officer Kiran Bedi to throw it open much to the relief of the public. For this act of hers, she received a dressing down from the then chief minister Pratapsing Rane.

Recently ex-chief minister of Goa and now Defence minister Manohar Parrikar repeated the act of then Prime Minister and skipped the inauguration of the stilt parking in the capital city for want of time. It was given to understand that he was busy preparing the groundwork to bombard the Congress over AgustaWestLand helicopter scam in the Parliament. And hence the people or the general public who vote these politicians to public office be damned.

It also seems that the politicians of all hues and political parties think alike and that is not the betterment of the public but their publicity and fame.

Stilt or vertical parking project in Panjim



Or could it be that Parrikar did not want to throw it open on the birthday of his controversial partyman and Tourism minister Dilip Parulekar?

But ultimately it is general public that has to suffer because the project is not inaugurated to satisfy the ego of one man. And why?

Was the project planned and executed with Defence Minister’s personal money? Was the property on which the project stands his? The idea to have such a project may not have even come from ex-CM. The concept was mooted through public demand and funded partly by the Union government. But after completion of the utility project we have to wait for ‘His Lordship’ to inaugurate it, till then the pubIic has to suffer. And if the project was not complete why was it even slated to be inaugurated on controversial Tourism minister Dilip Parulekar’s birthday.

Vertical parking project in the capital city was undertaken during current government tenure, even the third bridge over river Mandovi was mooted by this dispensation. Sadly this same government did not give any attention to the district hospital in Margao which was started during the Congress tenure. It is very evident that the BJP government does not care for the health of people.

It is perceived that Parrikar is intelligent but to my mind he is all about hype, baseless rhetoric, arrogance, domination and dictatorship. Does an intelligent person craves his name to be on the plaque and goes to the extent of stalling a public project. This is not at all an intelligent thought but more of a sadistic idea to be present for the inaugural and hog the limelight.

We all know that our cities lack adequate parking space and there is urgent need for such public projects or infrastructure to be set-up to ease traffic movement and avoid traffic jams. But here is an example of utter disrespect for the public, when a project that is ready is not being thrown open for public use just to pander or satisfy the ego of one man.

Let’s go back in time when Congress was in power. There was a landslide on one side of the Porvorim hill near the Assembly complex. Work was being carried out to clear the highway. As it happens with any government department removing the pile of mud was being done leisurely and traffic police were having a tough time regulating to and fro traffic only on one side of the highway as the other half was buried under the earth.

Manohar Parrikar then Opposition leader appeared there from Assembly and seeing the slow movement of the vehicles threw open the police cordon and barricades and let the riders and drivers find their own way. For this act of his the police had booked him for endangering human life which is a bailable offence.

When he was questioned by journalists, his reply was that police regulating the traffic movement were not efficient and it was causing hardship to the public and so he removed the cordon.

Today also motorists are facing hardship due to acute constraint of parking space and his government is in power but the same principle does not apply to him and Manohar Parrikar does not feel the hardships of the same people.