God faces a tough battle in Goa

The Congress candidates recently took an oath of allegiance to the party in the presence of party leader Rahul Gandhi. File/PTI

God is on test in the Goa Assembly election today. S/He has been insinuated into Goa politics because of the Congress ferrying its candidates to a temple, a church and a dargah, where they took an oath of allegiance to the party. It has to be seen whether the fear of god would dissuade Congress winners, to be announced on March 10, from defecting to another party.

Humans turn to god out of faith or desperation. It is hard to vouch for the godly inclination of Congress candidates. But desperate the party did become in the last five years. In 2017, the Congress won 17 out of Goa Assembly's 40 seats. But defections from the Congress enabled the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government, although it had 13 seats. The Congress, ultimately, was reduced to two MLAs.

Sixty-seven per cent of MLAs switched parties in the last five years. The defection of 2017 was judicially challenged. But the court's verdict has yet to be delivered, even as three Congress MLAs who had resigned in 2017 were re-elected. When neither MLAs nor the electorate seem bothered about constitutional morality, god is arguably the only protection left against defection.

Since Goa became a state in 1987, it has had 11 chief ministers, with some enjoying that status multiple times. But only two of them had a continuous stint of over four years. On five occasions chief ministers lasted less than 100 days, dethroned because of defections. Yet Goa's conscience was not assailed.

Quite shocking for a state that was reclaimed from the sea, according to a myth, by Parashurama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, who was searching for a ‘pure land' to carry out sacrificial rituals. But the malaise of defection has defiled Goa. One reason is the small size of its constituencies, roughly 25,000-30,000 voters each. Fifteen candidates polled less than 10,000 votes in 2017 - and still won.

Already overcrowded, Goa's political turf now also has the Trinamool Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party seems a more serious contender in 2022 than 2017. The more the parties in the fray, the less likely any of them can secure a majority. A hung Assembly would lead to deals being cut.

It is here the god factor could work. Goa's politicians, even though indifferent to religious and constitutional morality, may fear their violation of the oath taken at places of worship could enrage the devout into punishing them. Yet, while mulling over offers to defect, politicians will ask: Do Goans care for god more than money?
There is, after all, Goa's past to contend with.

In 1964, a law was enacted treating mundkars or tenants as deemed owners of the land they tilled. Bhatkars or landlords could not evict mundkars, whose tenancy rights were also made inheritable. A person purchasing land from a bhatkar inherited the latter's tenants as well. In 1975, yet another law decreed that mundkars could not be dispossessed of their dwelling units.

Mundkars could buy the land and their dwelling houses from bhatkars, but they lacked the resources to do so. Post-liberalisation, the demand for land skyrocketed, fuelled by tourism, mining and wealthy metropolitans wishing to own houses in Goa. The 1964 and 1975 laws were impediments to land transactions, for developers would also inherit mundkars whom they could not evict.

One way of meeting the demand for land was to denotify government lands and change their land use. It became profitable for politicians to capture state power and assist realtors. Another way was to persuade mundkars to sign away their rights in return for handsome payment. Academician Parag D Parobo writes, "Politicians profited…by negotiating land sale and sharing the spoils, although disproportionately, between bhatkar and mundkar."

The commodification of land is precisely the reason a handful of families, including those of bhatkars, dominate Goa. In the 2017 election, nine political families fielded 16 candidates. In today's election, seven families will have 14 candidates, with some family members fighting from rival parties.

The formidable Pratapsingh Rane is in the Congress, but his son Vishwajit and daughter-in-law Divya are BJP candidates. Michael Lobo, a former BJP minister, is now fighting on the Congress ticket, as is his wife Delilah. Churchill Alemao is a TMC candidate, as is his daughter Valanka; his nephew Yuri has a Congress ticket.

Regardless of which party comes to power, Goa's political families will call the shots. A hung Assembly will prompt the patriarchs to shift to the party likely to form the next government, for they require state power to facilitate land transactions. Goans condone their defections because they too stand a chance to gain from lucrative land deals.

There is also ample wealth to throw around. Every constituency has roughly 8,000 households. A gift of Rs 5,000 to each household means an expenditure of Rs 4 crore, loose change for political families. With nearly half of Goa's 3.5 lakh households holding Below Poverty Line ration cards, Rs 5,000 is a bonanza for the poor. Lucre has always been Lucifer's irresistible bait. God's best bet is Goa giving a clear majority to a party. S/He would then escape taking the test of efficacy.

The writer is a senior journalist

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