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Pramod Acharya 01st Jul 2021

CONGRESS HAS BECOME 'THE MINIMUM PARTY'

Revival of the Congress party is a pipedream. The party has lost the drive for power and its organization is in tatters. The leadership of the party is at odds and it is nowhere close to regaining the credibility it lost post-2012. We may feel aggrieved looking at the dismal state of the party in Goa; however, what is happening in our state seems to be the trickle-down effect from Delhi. 

 

My biggest grievance against the party is for the letdown to perform as an effectual opposition. This present government was formed defying the electoral mandate. The least that was expected from the Congress with 17 MLAs at that point of time was to perform as a belligerent and studied opposition. What followed thereafter was a bigger contempt of democracy than what the BJP did.  

 

Today, within four years since 2017, the party has barely five MLAs. The progeny of the two of them are enjoying power in the BJP. Alex Reginald seems mislaid in the conundrum and Digambar Kamat despite being the leader of the opposition has to elucidate periodically that he is not joining the BJP. That leaves the lone wolf Luizinho Faleiro whom nobody is ready to trust and who himself has turned so astringent after the harrowing experience of 2017 that he just doesn't want to hold the mantle anymore. Girish Chodankar has unfailingly proved that he can only lose elections. He has resigned twice taking moral responsibility but without replacement. Desk in charge of the Congress party Dinesh Gundu Rao has visited Goa thrice. Yet, he is still analysing the state of affairs. The election is merely six months away and the principal opposition party has no inkling about how to put its house in order. 

 

There is no point in pinning hopes on Congress that it would pose any challenge to the BJP. BJP must be eagerly hoping that they face this battered alternative in 2022. Incapacitated, indecisive, and inept. And it surely doesn't look like things are going to change. So it is better for the voters of Goa if they desire so, look for an alternative to the BJP beyond Congress. 

 

And even if the BJP returns to power handsomely, the citizens of Goa must look for a principal opposition beyond the present one. 

 

Congress was unable to form a government when the erudite electorate of this pristine state positioned them on the verge of power. The hubris was so soaring that they refused to ally with compatible parties before the election. The majority of its MLAs demanded the removal of Luizinho Faleiro so that they can form government in the state within 24 hours. They could not even stake a claim towards the formation of an alternate power dispensation after Faleiro's removal. Most of these MLAs defected from the party and joined the BJP in a rabid act of deceiving their constituents. 

 

What is the guarantee that there won't be a repeat telecast of the same saga? As long as the BJP is enjoying a superlative majority at the centre, in all likelihood the Congress will miserably perform as the provider of political talents to the saffron party.  

 

The problem with Indian democracy right now is Congress. It is no longer in any position to mount an assault on an election behemoth like the BJP. BJP supporters may find this proposition productive and amusing. However, it is disastrous for our democratic setup. And you have to give it to the BJP. The party is forever organized, strategically razor-sharp, always on the ground with a fierce fighting spirit and inhabits an insatiable yearn for power. 

 

What kind of a force is essential to take on a juggernaut like that? Equally organized and equipped to take a bull by the horns. Can Congress be that entity? Do you see any perceptible signs that the party is making robust changes? Do you see even an iota of fighting spirit in its leadership? If not, it is time to look out for another choice. Not just to take on the BJP but simply to maintain a balance of our self-governing structure. Please bear in mind, power should not be uncontested, whether it is in the hands of the BJP or Congress.

 

Sankalp Amonkar threatened to quit and split the party vertically if leadership changes are effected at this point. He is right and he is wrong too.  

 

Right because the appointment of a new Pradesh Congress Committee president just six months before an all-important assembly election might not yield any substantive results. Girish Chodankar should have been removed from the post long ago. He lost subsequent elections and resigned twice taking moral responsibility for disasters of his own makings. 

 

Wrong because the president he is batting for is unelectable and has an unlimited potential to generate a cascading effect of rout all around. There is no way Congress can face a general assembly election under the same consistently unsuccessful leadership. Awarding tickets to Babi Bagkar in Mandrem and Mahadev Naik in Shiroda and contesting from North Goa after losing terribly in Panaji has proved his decision-making abilities devoid of any electoral proficiency. 

 

Like Srikant Tiwari is advised in The Family Man not to be the “minimum guy”, this party has already crossed that threshold of mediocrity and has been reduced to “the minimum party”. 

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