HOME SELLING YOUR VOTE -------------------------------------------------- |
IN DEPTH |
STRAY THOUGHTS By Rajan Narayan FROM DISUNITED GOANS TO UNITED GOONS -------------------------------------------------- |
IN THE NEWS CHURCH ROOF COLLAPSE SHROUDED IN MYSTERY By Our Special Correspondent -------------------------------------------------- |
POLL TALK NATIONAL GAME CALLED ELECTIONS |
IN FOCUS CUTBAND FISHERMEN UP IN ARMS OVER SOCIETY PARTIALITY By Calvert Gonsalves -------------------------------------------------- |
HEALTH |
TONGUE-IN-CHEEK By Aravind Bhatikar WE ARE MEN OF PRINCIPLES! -------------------------------------------------- |
EATING IS FUN A variety food column By Tara Narayan RENDEZVOUS WITH JUHU BEACH HOME & HEARTH LEARN TO MAKE THE UKDE CHE MODAK THIS GANESH! -------------------------------------------------- |
EDUCATION PRIVATE TUTORS SEEK JUSTICE By A Special Correspondent -------------------------------------------------- |
CAREERS MAKING IT IN FOOD TECHNOLOGY By A Special Correspondent -------------------------------------------------- |
PEOPLE OF SUBSTANCE RISE OF THE MURTHYS By Archana Rai -------------------------------------------------- |
GLOBAL GOAN GOA-BRAZIL LINKS NEED A BOOST By Constantino Hermanns Xavier -------------------------------------------------- |
SHORT STORY |
NATION SCAN |
TIATR MHAKA SOEG DIEAT – A TOUCHING TALE By Daniel F DE Souza -------------------------------------------------- |
SPORTSTRACK By Irineu Gonsalves TAP TALENT AT SOURCE -------------------------------------------------- |
GOENKARANCHO AVAZ |
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LAST WEEK I happened to be having dinner with a senior citizen. A senior citizen who was involved in the Liberation struggle and has always believed in value based politics. The senior citizen suddenly posed a question to me. He asked me whether I would lend or sell my wife for a crore of rupees. I was a little startled by the question. I was even more agitated when he continued and asked me whether I would lend or sell my daughter for money. Even as I vehemently shook my head my friend asked me in total and genuine bewilderment. Why do people sell their greatest privilege as citizens of a democracy? Their right to vote. Their right to decide who should control their destiny. The question was obviously posed in the context of the forthcoming bye-elections to the Poinguinim assembly seat. Poinguinim is a crossroad for Goan politician and even more so for the ordinary Goan citizen. Because the battle in Poinguinim is a battle between money power and basic democratic values. The Poinguinim bye-elections itself is an illicit product of the use and abuse of money power. The bye-elections are taking place because Isidore Fernandes who had contested and won the seat on the congress ticket was induced to resign. He was induced to resign to re-contest the seat on the Bharatiya Janata Party ticket to strengthen the Parrikar government and make it more topple proof. And not surprisingly the BJP is resorting to unprecedented use of money and muscle power to capture the seat. It is not as though money and muscle power have not been used in the past. On the contrary the use of money and muscle power has become routine. The difference in the case of Poinguinim is that the use of money power is so blatant. Indeed never before has money power been abused on such a scale to subvert the democratic process. The use and abuse of money power in politics is a matter of great concern. When Goan Observer asked some political stalwarts in the state including Dr Wilfred D’Souza the NCP chief, Ramakant Khalap, the former Union Minister of State for Law, Nirmala Sawant, the former president of the Goa Congress Pradesh Committee and Radharao Gracias, general secretary of the UGDP they all acknowledged that money has come to play a very major role in electoral politics. But the jury is still out on whether it is the politician who has corrupted the voter or the voter who has corrupted the politician. Presumably it is a bit of both. In a democracy you get the government you deserve. So ultimately it is you and me the citizen who has to decide whether we are going to auction our votes to the highest bidder or choose legislators who will be honest and promote not our personal interest but the general interest of the state and the country. We can rid ourselves of the problem of money power and its lethal influence on the quality of governance by refusing the bribes offered. Or taking the bribes but not let it influence our decision on whom we will vote for. The citizen has as much a role to play in promoting good governance as the politician. Indeed it is only the citizen who can ensure that the right people are elected. This is an appeal to the voters in Poinguinim. For Goa’s sake reject money power and prove to your fellow Goans and indeed the world that Goans cannot be bought. MOG ASSUM RAJAN NARAYAN
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