The recently concluded Goa Assembly session will go down the annals of Goa’s Legislative history as a Dark chapter. At the outset, the curtailment of the session to merely 3 days, spelt out the undemocratic intentions of the ruling BJP Government wherein the overall conduct of business in this session was hurriedly concluded in a manner which is unbecoming of the Legislature as the CM, Dr. Pramod Sawant and his Ministry literally bulldozed through the 3 days of business, which also exposed their fear of facing the Opposition on the floor and the Goan people watching it.
The response of Dr Pramod Sawant and his Ministers on questions raised by the Opposition left much to be desired from the so called Legislators who’re running Goa’s Government. Most replies exhibited a high level of reluctance to provide details and when the Opposition pressed for clarity on the Government’s stand, the Ministers either tried to circumvent the matter or there was a direct intervention by the CM to provide some halfway answers in a futile attempt to save face.
The curtailment of the Assembly was the first step to avoid the unsettling questions that would affect the electoral image of BJP and cause for public backlash at the ballot box. BJP ensured that there won’t be any detailed discussions on seriously damaging topics like COVID Mismanagement, Failure to anticipate & curtail the Second Wave, the GMC Dark Hour deaths, Failed Disaster Management during Cyclone Tauktae, Monsoon flooding , IIT land allocation, deteriorating Law & Order situation, Mining issues, Online Education & Connectivity issues, Environmental issues like Mhadei Water Diversion and the three Linear Projects approved to run through Mollem, Mopa Issue, increasing Corruption, Failure of the major Infrastructural Projects including roads and bridges, Preparedness for 3rd Wave and many more such sensitive subjects that would have exposed the utter failure of this Government.
Pre-drawn sessions and purposefully antagonizing the Opposition into a walkout, the hurried passing of multiple bills in the shortest possible time frame were all glaring examples of the Undemocratic Legislation in Goa Assembly by the ruling BJP Government.
The only commendable factor of this otherwise disgraceful assembly session was the strong visibility of a long needed Opposition Unity. It is the only way to save democracy in Goa from the autocratic aspirations of the ruling BJP. The Opposition unitedly produced an appreciable session of upholding legislation with well prepared questions supported by deeply studied facts and figures.
While it is true that the Opposition was fully prepared to fight it out on sensitive issues affecting Goa, it may not be assumed that the CM or his Minister’s were clueless or unprepared for the assembly session or to the questions raised by the Opposition. Instead, it was seemingly clear that they were all acting like puppets on a string played by Dr Pramod Sawant with the main handler in Delhi determining the Goa Assembly puppetry with the sole intention of Election-2022.
The Electoral Puppetry show, stage managed by the Central BJP in the Goa Legislative Assembly motivated the controversial Bhumiputra Bill with an eye on the migrant vote bank, to be more precise, this could be a veiled plan for bogus voting using the cover of BJP sponsored migrant Bhumiputras of Goa !
The power hungry ruling BJP Government left no stone unturned in its most unholy attempt in the House of Democracy to overcome a very clear possibility of an anti-incumbency defeat in 2022. No ruling Government should be allowed to indulge in such deplorable practices that bring shame to the hallowed principles of Democracy envisaged by our forefathers who laid down their lives for a democratic India. BJP’s perversity for power is an assault on the very existence of Legislative Democracy in Goa.
CM Dr Pramod Sawant and his Ministers stooped to shameful lows in the House of Democracy to achieve unscrupulous gains in the upcoming elections. The entire conduct of the Assembly session was conniving & premeditated by the Government which is absolutely against the principles of Legislature and hence the entire business of this Undemocratic Assembly session should be rejected in totality and a full-fledged Assembly Session should be held at the earliest to uphold the Principles of Democracy & Legislature in Goa.