The Velips hold the key to victory in the Poinguinim elections. If the Velips and the youth sell their vote it will be because political parties have ignored urgent, people's issues, and are obsessed with electoral victories, saya RAJAN NARAYAN.

WHILE ON THE CAMPAIGN trail in Poinguinim I met Rama Gauns (name changed). She was 48 going on 60. She was tall and ramrod straight. She was walking back home to her village after selling some vegetables from the small 100 sq mt plot adjacent to her mud home. With the meagre proceeds she had got her few basic necessities. She was walking or rather striding back with her basket perched delicately on her head.

Cover story... (Goan Observer October 2-8, 2004)

A convoy of cars carrying senior leaders of a political party stopped at a roadside shop. Deep into the Cotigao sanctuary. An area dominated by the Velips who hold the key to who will win the Poinguinim bye-elections. A senior leader of the political party desperately seeking support for his candidate stopped Rama Gauns and asked if she knew that an election was being held on October 13th.

The response was a torrent of angry words. I know all about you leaders. You only appear like migratory birds at election time making a hundred promises which are never fulfilled. Once the elections are over you people never come back. But we are different, protested the senior political leader. We are committed to the poor. To the Aam Admi. The rival is the betrayer. He has sold out on you. The poor but regal lady was unconvinced. You are all the same. You talk of development. Come and see the house I live in.

The convoy moved on. All the Hondas and the Mercedes' and the Qualis' screeched to a halt in a small village. Our heroine invited all the netas to her ever so humble home. A small mud house with a chullah in the corner. No worries about the price of gas or even kerosene. A neat makeshift shelf made out of bamboo with a few aluminium pots and pans. Closer to the thatched roof was a loft with all her worldly possessions - a mat, a bed sheet and some clothes. Austere but immaculately clean. Next to the house was a small plot just about 100 mts where she grew vegetables. Her main source of livelihood.

Did she need anything, fawning political beggars in their RayBan glasses asked her. Yes she said belligently. I have no electricity. Would all these big leaders in their fancy cars and fancy clothes be able to do anything? One of the netas who projects himself as the champion of the underprivileged murmured about being too busy with the High command observer. Another neta who considers himself God’s gift to Goa and the epitome of good governance goes into the hut. And very ‘generously’ offers her three hundred rupee notes. The lady shakes her head. Why are you giving me money? She asks in genuine bewilderment. It is to meet the expenses for the wiring and the bulb says the neta. I do not know where to get the material from, says Rama Gauns. I need power. Can you arrange it or not. All the netas walk away commending her honesty but not doing anything to solve her problem.

NOT WILLING TO BE BOUGHT?

CONTRARY TO the perceptions, the voters in Poinguinim, and particularly the Velips who hold the key to who will win the elections, are not willing to be bought. Certainly not the older generation who have a great sense of dignity. Indeed the much maligned Velips are far less likely to sell their vote than members of the so called more forward communities and the youngsters in the minority community. And the Velips may be illiterate or semi literate but are by no means ignorant of what is happening. Velip youth whom we spoke to made it clear that they had no great love for the Congress turned BJP candidate Isidore Fernandes. They are bitterly conscious of the fact that though Isidore has served two terms as a MLA, once as an independent and the second time as a Congressman, he has done little to develop the constituency. They do not need Congress leaders to tell them that Isidore sold out to the BJP.

But their problem is simple. What is the guarantee that the rival candidate will be any better? A young man, a little more educated than the others, pointed out to me that neither side was talking about development. They were only talking about who will be the chief minister. About stable governments and about new government. And by a coincidence, when I posed the question of developmental issues to senior politicians from both sides, the cynical answer was “we are not interested in peoples problems. At the moment we are concerned about electoral problems.”

Will money play a crucial role in the Poinguinim elections? Yes it will. In fact it is already playing a major role. Money is playing a major role because the voters, particularly the younger voters, have become totally cynical. The majority of them are unemployed. Nor is there any prospect of a job in sight. They know that none of the tall promises that politicians make during a campaign will ever be kept. So they may as well make the best of the situation. A few bucks in hand are worth several in the bush. And why not make merry, drink and eat all that they can while the going is good. Because tomorrow is another day and after the elections there will be nobody around offering free booze and chicken. It is the young voter and they form a sizeable part of the electorate who are the most vulnerable to being bribed. Though they may not necessarily vote for the candidate whose money they accepted.

This reminds me of a story. A young American walks into a bar in a seven star deluxe hotel. He sees a very petty well endowed young lady. He goes up to her and asks her if she would sleep with him for a million dollars. The young lady turns coy. She does not say yes. But she does not emphatically say no. The young American then turns to the young lady and asks her if she would sleep with him for a hundred dollars. The young lady is outraged. What do you take me for? Do you think I am a whore? The American remains composed. He retorts, that is already decided. What we are negotiating now is the price. If the price is high enough will the voter be able to resist the lure.

FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT

ON MY TWO-day visit to Poinguinim I discovered that there was a lot of goodwill for the combined opposition candidate Jagdish Acharya. Acharya is soft spoken. He focuses on developmental issues. Though he also has a fair record of defections, he is seen as atleast relatively honest. He has his own vote bank and a significant following in the Velip community. He enjoys the advantage of having the support of Vasu Paik Gauncar, a former MLA from Poinguinim and Khasinath Jhalmi, the MGP General Secretary. Both of whom command a great deal of respect in the constituency. Among the upper classes and the educated the fact that the Lok Shakti is very actively campaigning is seen as endorsement of his acceptability if not his integrity.

Among the minority community Isidore is seen as a Judas who has betrayed them twice over. Once by resigning his seat and secondly contesting on the BJP ticket. There is defiantly a strong undercurrent of sympathy and support for Jagdish Acharya.

But ironically the fact that he is the combined opposition candidate is proving to be a handicap. For one thing there is no coordination at all between the various parties and groups supporting Jagdish Acharya. There is no script leave alone a strategy. So no one knows what they have to do. And in any case the various parties supporting Jagdish Acharya seem to be more interested in claiming credit for his victory then in ensuring that he wins. And senior Congress leaders are creating problems by projecting Acharya not as the combined opposition candidate or the peoples candidate but as a Congress candidate.

And when it comes to money and muscle power the advantage is clearly in favour of the BJP candidate, Isidore Fernandes. The BJP camp has no dearth of money or willingness to splurge. The workers or volunteers get Rs 1000 a day. The group leaders get even more. Many of them have been given bikes bought on the hire purchase. At the end of the day’s campaigning they can drink all they want and eat all they want. Large stocks of liquor have already started arriving at the bars and the tavernas. For all those who like the cup that cheers but in the normal course can only afford local feni or madd. The bars are aflush with Royal Stag and Imperial Blue and Old Monk rum. All on the house.

That is not all. Truckloads of footballs and cricket kits and carrom boards have also arrived in the villages. In many parts of the constituency, particularly in the remote villages, there are carrom clubs and a new carrom board preferably with a few cartons of powder are always welcome. There are many aspiring Sachin Tendulkar out there who can be seduced with a cricket bat. No need for pads they are content with basic equipment. And footballs are a much superior substitute for the rubber balls they kick around.

PASSION FOR WORSHIP

THE BJP HAS discovered a great passion for places of worship. And for a change they do not make any distinction between churches and temples. Does the temple require a fresh coat of paint? Promptly a donation is made. The chapel needs a new sound system. It is delivered promptly. Interestingly several small temples and churches alike have been demanding colour television sets. These are also very promptly supplied. You only have to ask and money pours in. The BJP is pulling out all the stops.

Over the last weekend when I was in Poinguinim I learnt that on an average the saffron brigade was spending Rs 8 to Rs 10 lakhs a day. I understand that the tempo of distribution of money has picked up since the beginning of the week. The bulk of the money is coming from the BJP’s new banker, Babush Monserrate. Who extorts money from builders in Panjim and north Goa and is investing part of it in Poinguinim to ensure Isidore’s re-election. Not out of any great love for isidore or even the BJP. But because Isidore’s victory will strengthen his position.

It is not as though the Congress doesn’t have the money. Many Congress leaders, particularly all the former Chief ministers, have made a lot of money. They have very deep pockets and can match the BJP’s money power if they wish to. But the congress unfortunately has long since forgotten the art of giving. Congress leaders are solely preoccupied with their own personal fortunes. They could not care less about the fortunes of the party or even as prestigious a contest as the Poinguinim bye-elections. The congress high command does not seem to have realised how vital a victory in Poinguinim is for the party not only in Goa but in the rest of the country. Their attitude is that it is the small bye-election in a politically unimportant state.

After all Goa has only two MPs in parliament. So the Congress high command is not inclined to contribute much to the Acharya campaign. In fact so far the High Command has contributed only a measly Rs two lakhs. Though the GPCC chief Luizinho Faleiro is going about shouting from the rooftops that if the voters elect Acharya the Congress will provide an alternative government, he is unwilling to either contribute himself or persuade his other wealthy Congress colleagues to do so. All that the party has been able to mobilise so far is Rs eight lakhs which is what the saffron brigade and Babush are spending everyday.

The BJP also has the advantage of incumbency. It is a government in power. So much so when it makes an assurance that a bridge will built or an industrial estate will be set up it carries more credibility. Particularly when the promises come from the Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, himself who is doing door to door canvassing. Unlike the congress leaders the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar drives to the villages in his own car with just two or three party workers with him. And the fact hat the chief minister himself has come calling impresses the hell out of the voter.

Being the incumbent also enables the BJP to do or at least promise favours at the individual level. Nobody knows better than Parrikar that the most sought after gift is a government job. Coincidently recruitment has been announced for forest guards and linesmen and junior engineers and apprentice clerks, LDCs and drivers. And the chief minister assures the young people he meet that the jobs are theirs as long as they vote for the BJP candidate.

Fortunately for the BJP the congress has not been able to cash in on the negative side of incumbency. The fact that there has been little or no development not just in Poinguinim but in the Canacona taluka as a whole. The fact that the ruling regime has failed to address the problem of acute unemployment in the Canacona taluka. The fact that the ruling regime has failed to even diagnose why incidence of renal failures are so high in Canacona taluka. Leave alone set up a basic infrastructure for addressing the serious medical problem. The dialysis unit has long since stopped functioning.

The biggest failure of the combined opposition has been its inability to expose the inaction and the hypocrisy of the ruling group towards the OBCs. Though the Velips, the Gaudis and the Kunbis were notified as Scheduled tribes by the Centre more than a year ago the saffron government has failed to extend the benefits to these communities. On the contrary apparently Prakash Velip the vice president of the BJP sought to move a resolution in the assembly some years ago demanding that Velips should not be classified as scheduled tribes. The argument was that this would become a stigma. Never mind that even Saraswats in Goa have no compunctions over securing fake OBC certificates to secure admissions to professional colleges. Kashinath Jhalmi has a copy of the resolution moved by Velip and mentions it at every public meeting. But the Congress has not made it part of the campaign.

As of last week the betting was 70:30 in favour of Jagdish Acharya. With more and more money poured into the constituency by the saffron brigade and with desperate shortage of funds in the Acharya camp, there has been a change in the odds to 60:40 in favour of Acharya. And if the congress and the combined opposition do not put their money where their mouth is the chances are that money and muscle power will prevail. That treachery will be rewarded. And that Babush Monserrate will be able to undermine the morals of the youth in Canacona as he has done in his constituency Taleigao. If only to protect the virtue of its women and the innocence of its youth, voters in the Poinguinim constituency should show Isidore the door.

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