MGP does not have Goa’s interest at heart, keep it at bay during 2017 Assembly Elections -- By Nisser Dias

Immediately after Liberation of Goa from the erstwhile Portuguese rule, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) was given the mandate to govern our beloved State of Goa. What was their agenda then? To merge Goa with Maharashtra. Goans at that time turned the tide against the MGP through the historical Opinion Poll.

Thereafter, MGP’s votebank had eroded to almost nil, but the disenchantment with the Congress, BJP there has been a steady gain in the votebank of the party whose name itself suggests that their ideology does not allow them to see Goa as a different identity from the rest of the country. They somehow want Goans to follow Maharashtra culture. They have even gone to the extent of forcing the current BJP government to give Marathi language official status.

Dayanand Bandodkar

To a large extent Goa could understand our first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar for trying to merge Goa with its larger neighbour, maybe his intentions were faster development of Goa, to give him benefit of doubt maybe he did not think of issues like our identity, culture, language and our western influence and outlook.

All these issues or rather the uniqueness of Goa and Goans came to the fore during the Opinion Poll which was demanded and led by our unforgettable and legendary hero Jack Sequeira.

Of course, with their defeat at the referendum, they have still not given up their agenda. When given an opportunity by the Progressive Democratic Front government led by Churchill Alemao and then by late Dr. Proto Barbosa with Shashikala Kakodkar of the MGP as Education minister made a mess of the  Medium of Instruction that we are still suffering.

Shashikala Kakodkar

Over the years MGP has steadily re-created its vote-bank to the extent that die-hard Marathi lovers who fooled us with the pseudo façade of being Konkani protagonists to gain popularity in public are now in forefront screaming from the rooftops to support them in their last ditch effort.

There is lot of noise of MGP increasing its vote-share during the 2017 assembly election. This is largely because the mainstream national parties have not been able to meet the aspirations of the Goans and hence are disenchanted with them.

The regional parties that only bloom during the elections also do not have individuals with credibility but MGP took their tally from two to three in the 2012 elections and now want to increase it so much so as to either form a government of their own or to gain as much leverage to catapult Sudin Dhavlikar as the chief minister.

We Goans shedding our caste, creed and importantly religion at no cost should allow this to happen because of various factors. Firstly, Sudin for the last ten years have been a minister. When Congress was in power he was a Transport minister. In 2012, he knew Congress was losing and forged an alliance with the BJP and called Congress a corrupt party. The BJP came to power and he saw to it that he cornered the PWD and Transport portfolios. He also got his brother a ministry. Now since BJP is on a sticky wicket he is flexing his muscles.

Conducting rituals in western clothes

As a minister in the BJP government he made several controversial sexist comments and got away with it besides supporting Marathi as the official language.

Sudin has got his children educated in private English school but is a strong supporter of denying financial aid to aided schools (basically Missionaries schools or schools run by Diocesan Society of Education). He wants to ban wearing bikinis and swimming costumes on the beach even though Goa is a tourist destination. He wants women in Goa to wear only sarees and salwar kameez and wants a total ban on girls wearing jeans and short skirts. If this is not moral policing what is?

That’s not all he had the gall to ask Portuguese PM Antonio Costa with Goan roots to apologize for the four and a half decades of Portuguese rule in the State. If that is so then we should ask Sudin to quit Goa and permanently settle in Maharashtra for being a part of the party that want to merge Goa with Maharashtra and now he wants to be the chief minister of Goa.  Can we have a man with such a narrow mindset to  govern us?

Sudin Dhavlikar is a strong supporter and benefactor of Hindu right wing group Sanathan Sanstha having its headquarter in Ramnathi in Ponda, infact his wife Lata is the director of the outfit in Goa. Lata Dhavlikar is also on record urging parents not to send their children to convent schools, is this not a communal statement?

And can we forget that members of Sanathan Sanstha allegedly tried to bomb their own Hindu brethren for participating in the ‘Narkasur’ revelry some years back and themselves lost their lives in the bargain.

Blast at Margao by Sanathan Sanstha

Can we forget communal rabid Pramod Muthalik who is closely associated with Sanathan Sanstha ranting about our Goan culture which he said was influenced by the West and wanted to change it. Can we forget that his Muthalik’s Sri Ram Sene and Sanathan Saunstha brigade tried to stop ‘tiatr’ being held in Margao.

The BJP had rightly banned this fundamentalist Pramod Muthalik from entering and opening a branch of his organisation in Goa but if MGP comes to power in the state with Sudin Dhavikar as its head honcho of the government, he and his wife along with MGP with open arms will lay the red carpet for the entry of Pramod Muthalik in Goa.

Communal rabid Muthalik

Goans have to seriously introspect and keep MGP not only out of governance but also reduce it to non-entity and gradually lead it to its demise otherwise it is just going to be opposite.

For the 2017 Assembly election we have an option be it Goa Forward or Aam Admi Party besides the time tested political parties. Some might have reservations about Goa Forward and AAP but no political party is expected to get cent per cent vote share. Some might not like one party’s ideology or their functioning, others may not like the individuals heading the party, the inner differences and conflicts are bound to come to the fore in one’s mind but one cannot lose sight of the fact that we have a choice to vote for.

Yes, please do cast your vote but please to remember the harm Congress has done to Goa, the destruction that the BJP is doing in the name of continuous governance of which MGP is a part and parcel and think of the devastation that MGP will do if it is given an opportunity to govern the State of Goa.