Goa Diary

Vajpayee versus people power: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani got a taste of people power in Goa last we...

Vajpayee versus people power: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani got a taste of people power in Goa last week when delegations and representations were made to them that the polls to Goa Assembly expected by May end be postponed. Even local newspaper editors and journalists apprised them of public sentiments in the state.

Of course none of these efforts seem to have had any effect on them. The prime minister said at a press conference that the ruling coalition did not have the numbers in Parliament to extend President8217;s Rule in Goa. And as the party8217;s relationship with ally AIADMK neared its nadir the two top leaders kept saying how the national party needed a clear mandate from voters.

For the love of Christ: After drawing severe flak for the attacks on Christians during the last six months, the saffron party rediscovered Christ in Goa where the minority community accounts for 25 per cent of the voters.BJP president Kushabhau Thakre drew parallels betweenChrist and the party which champions the cause of the Hindu right. Like Christ, the members of the BJP were sought to be destroyed politically on Good Friday of 1980 when they were sidelined in the old Janata Party. That party split on the same day and the BJP was formed on Easter Sunday, April 1980.

While Thakre spoke about the reincarnation8217; of Christ on Easter. Home Minister L K Advani said resurrection8217; in English even though he prefers Sanskritised Hindi in his speeches even over everyday expressions in Urdu.

Baywatch in Goa: With several tourists drowning in Goa during the past year, the state8217;s Director General of Police R S Sahaye has come up with a proposal to set up a marine police8217; force. In addition to patrolling the waters along the coast, the marine police will assist picknickers drowning off the beaches. No, he din8217;t say whether Pamela Anderson is part of the force.

Tailpiece: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde seems to be too pre-occupied with his homestate. At a public meeting addressed by the prime minister, Munde wound up his own speech with Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra! And added Jai Gomantak as an after thought!