Goa and its never ending political crisis; some tips from Indian cricket

The current political crisis in Goa and “third world treatment” to the Indian cricket team in Australia have one similarity i.e. their connection with Mr. Sarad Power and both have been rescued by the present BCCI chief cum Agriculture minister cum NCP supremo in recent time. But the other imperceptible correlation between both of them is that like Indian cricket team’s frequent imbroglio with Australian players, Goa is also notoriously famous for plunging into political disasters too often. It always occupies disproportionate space in mainstream media compared to its size - of course due to wrong reasons.
In this perspective, The DNA writes, “marred by frequent by-elections caused by hung assembly verdicts and hunger for power, Goa has seen imposition of President's Rule twice and 16 Chief Ministers in the last twenty years.” Recent political instability will add to that list. The things started with the withdrawal of support of three NCP and one independent M.L.A from the present Congress led coalition government of the state. With all kind of conspiracy theories and negotiating efforts on work, the government was finally saved with the promise to accommodate the dissenting members. But, the larger question remains unsolved. Though coalition governments aren’t new to India after two decades of its practice, Goa is a unique enigma in Indian polity. Here in last five years, defection of MLAs, partisanship by Governor and nepotism are norms. N.Ram of The Hindu writes, “as MLAs of Goa who have only a small constituency to nurse, develops their political base independent of their party, defections become the norm. Often, denial of a ministerial berth is the reason for a member to withdraw support to the government causing instability.” Barring this geographical limitation, blatant misuse of constitutional prerogative is another reason for this volatility. Especially for the last few years; Governor, S.L.Jamir’s role has raised serious questions about the sanctity of this constitutional post. Even this time BJP alleges the Governor of playing to the tune of present incumbent Digambar Kamat’s government. The BJP has questioned the constitutional validity of the decision of Mr. Jamir to suddenly prorogue the State Legislative Assembly on the recommendation of the Digambar Kamat Cabinet ahead of the passage of an appropriation Bill, which is seen as a bailout tactics for buying more time to the Congress government. “For, the normal practice is to adjourn the House sine die and to prorogue it after a gap of several days. In his anxiety to buy the minority Kamat Government time, Jamir short-circuited the normal procedure and straight away prorogued the house. Which means Kamat is no longer obliged to summon another session of the assembly for several months”, writes The Free press Journal. Also the Anti-defection law passed by the parliament, which empowers the speaker of the house to decide on the disqualification issue, gives the leverage to the speakers of Goan assembly for its blatant misuse in recent time. As an example, when Pratapsinh Rane was in power in Goa in 2005, two defected BJP M.L.A.s were inducted as cabinet ministers in Rane’s government with a flagrant violation of Anti-defection law. Even the induction defied the 91st amendment act, which lays down specific provision for restricting floor crossing by legislatures. K.V.Prasad in The Hindu writes, “The decision of the Congress to reward two former Bharatiya Janata Party legislators with ministerial berths in Pratapsinh Rane Government in Goa is perhaps the first calculated move by a political party to circumvent the anti-defection law.” And an irony these political tricks aren’t restricted to a specific party but practiced across board.
Though the present political crisis in Goa has been solved for the time being, it will be naïve to think that it is subsided forever. Rather, it will continue taking inspiration from the Indian cricket team, which is now more in news for controversies than the game. But let’s hope just like the true cricketing spirit, one day Goan politician will follow ethical line in the name of true political spirit- though the probabilities seem to be too bleak.