[Goanet-News] COUNTERPOINT: Aam aadmi chief minister has come to stay (Shanti Maria Fonseca, in Gomantak Times)

[Goanet News]

AAM AADMI CHIEF MINISTER HAS COME TO STAY

By Shanti Maria Fonseca

June 7, 2008. Gomantak Times

What we have seen in the last one year on the political front
is disturbing to a person with a conscience, and disgraceful
to a person with self-respect. The behaviour of our elected
representatives in Goa in the last one year has been
disgusting.

Political equations and loyalties kept changing. Friends
become foes and foes become friends. No sensible mind can
understand the logic behind these political somersaults. In
the midst of all this rough and uncertain weather, the
present government headed by Kamat completes a year today.

Digambar Kamat, who engineered the downfall of the BJP
government in 2005 and then joined the Congress, was sworn in
as the 19th Chief Minister of Goa.

He hails from the influential Saraswat Brahmin community and
is the second chief minister from the community, after
Parrikar. The decision to nominate Kamat as chief minister
came as a surprise to many. Digambar Kamat who completed 54
this year on International Women's Day is a real estate
developer, who represents the urban population of the Margao
constituency. He has been a legislator since 1994.

Kamat took over from Rane who served as a chief minister for
five terms and dominated politics here for the entire decade
of the 1980s. Goa's new Congress chief minister began his
political career as a member of the Congress who later left
to join the BJP.

Till a few years ago, he was the second-most powerful man in
the Manohar Parrikar-led BJP government in Goa. Goa is a
state that has seen politicians repeatedly change sides.
Digambar Kamat is a long-term senior politician in the state,
having headed several ministries where he has performed
exceptionally well.

He created a record when he was the longest serving power
minister in the country. He was also responsible for turning
the power department which had accrued heavy losses into a
profit-making organisation.

A senior politician accepted across caste, religion and
community barriers, Kamat's strengths are his humility,
accessibility, an accommodating nature, openness to criticism,
and a firm belief in resolving issues through dialogue and
discussion and his discipline.

It is because of qualities such as these, that all those who
have been scheming to topple his government have met their
Waterloo. He calls his government that of the "Aam Aadmi",
and is often heard saying that "People know I mean business."

A decade ago, Kamat was presented the COSAMB award for
enriching human life and outstanding performance and
his contribution to agricultural marketing in the state and
the country, by the National Council of State Agricultural
Marketing Boards, New Delhi.

The man who is firmly saddled in his chair says he is there
because he never really worries about his chair on which he
rarely sits. He is out and working most of the time, with a
commitment and dedication to the commonman.

We cannot forget that in the history of this State, no
government has ever survived a serious toppling bid. The
Kamat government has survived several such treacherous
toppling bids, and that too one of them being within a few
days of his installation as the chief minister. Under the
leadership of the present CM, every bid to topple the present
government has only left the traitors bowled for a six, and
they have come back on bended knee.

Despite several agitations led by people, the Digambar Kamat
government stands on a firm footing. The Chief Minister is
clear that all controversies -- which include the regional
plan, SEZs, IT parks, casinos, etc -- are problems left
unresolved by previous governments and inherited by him.

The CM has been clear right from Day One of holding the
reigns that projects which are not desired by people for whom
it is meant should not be implemented. It is his firm belief
that people have a right to agitate and that it is his duty
to hear the voice of all stakeholders.

The present government headed by Kamat is worried about the
present situation where the people of Goa have started
opposing every project and proposal placed before them.
Investments have almost come to a standstill in this state.
Some industries have already threatened and started their
preparations for moving out of the state.

It has been the fervent endeavour of the Digambar government
to keep the negatives at the minimum and allow development to
take some form and shape in this tiny state of Goa. The
miserable state of development and the rising unemployment
rate is something we are all familiar with.

The CM has thrown the ball in the "people's court". That
there is a section among the Goan population that lives in
poverty and without the basic amenities required for a decent
living is something that this CM is well aware of. According
to him, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure
that the fruits of growth reach the poor strata of society.
We shall have to wait and watch patiently to see when this
will happen. Presently, the rich are getting richer.

It is time for Goans to stop crying about a Goa that is being
lost to the migrant and outsider from within the country and
outside the country. It is time for activists who claim to be
apolitical to turn political and slip into the election
process which only a brave person can do.

The political stage need performers, not advisors. The Goan
voter has long since become insensitive. Elections and
bye-elections have become an opportunity for the commonman to
earn more money. Some months ago, a so-called reputable
politician was quoted by a local English daily as stating
that he was offered Rs 20 crore to switch over to the other
side.

This is proof that large amounts of money are circulated in
Goan politics. Goan politics keeps getting murkier by the
day. Who is going to bell the cat? The pop singer, the
fashion designer, the doctor, the historian, the architect,
the environmentalist, or the infinite number of social
activists that Goa has produced overnight?