Sandesh Prabhudesai
13 August 1999
Ramakant Khalap, former union law minister in the United Front
government, has split his Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party to join the Congress and contest
Lok Sabha elections once again, but on the national party's hand symbol. He built his
political career by projecting himself as a strong anti-Congressman and even found a place
in the union cabinet, despite his party winning a single seat among only two Goa has.
He had a quite sensational tenure of 10 months in the UF
government, since it was the time when judicial activism was at its peak, several top
politicians were arrested under corruption charges and the era of liberalisation compelled
the government to drastically change several age-old legislations in the country. But he
could not continue further as he lost the Lok Sabha polls in '98 to the Congress.
To remain in political limelight, Goa's former firebrand opposition
leader once again successfully contested Assembly polls held here in June. But his party,
which had ruled the state initially for 17 years from 1963, lost miserably due to the
BJP's resurgence. He has now split the party along with another colleague among the four
elected, to join the Congress.
Championing the cause of Goa's merger into Maharashtra soon after
the Portuguese colony was liberated in 1961, the MGP emerged as the most popular party
among the bahujan samaj here. Despite losing the opinion poll on the issue of merger, the
party continued in power for 17 years, till the opposition United Goans Party merged
itself into the Congress along with a few MGP elements.
In fact it was Khalap who foiled the ploy of former chief minister
Shashikala Kakodkar to merge the party into the Congress in 1980 while emerging as
undisputable and popular leader of the masses. Though he could not bring the party back to
power, the MGP rose from two to 16 till 1994 Assembly polls, exploiting anti-Congress
sentiments of the electorate.
But what weakened the regional outfit was the self-centred
opportunistic attitude of several MGP leaders who crossed floor to join the Congress and
snatch ministerial positions. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which was a non-entity till '94
polls, precisely played upon this weakness and made a dent into the MGP's Hindu vote bank,
while also aligning with them in the '94 Assembly polls.
The 10-member BJP has emerged as the main opposition in the
40-member House this time while the MGP boiled down to only four, including Khalap, whose
pre-poll attempts to align once again with the BJP did not bear fruits. He has now chosen
to join the Congress, accusing the same BJP as communal and calling himself as the secular
force.
SANDESH PRABHUDESAI spoke to him at length soon after he formed MGP
(Khalap) and announced merger into the Congress on the Independence Day, to find out what
forced him to think abolishing identity of his nearly four-decade old regional party and
join the national mainstream.
Q : What made you take initiative in merging the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party intothe Congress when you rebuilt the organisation in 1980 on a single plank ofanti-Congressism ?
A : Because I believe that the MGP has reached a dead end. All my attempts to convertit into a strong regional force have proved futile. My insistence to change the name ofthe party, recast its aims and objectives to attract all sections of Goan society and makeit acceptable to the Goans as well as non-Goans settled here was unsuccessful. After 25years of steadfast association with the MGP, I have now taken a new root, which - I amaware - may lead me to political glory or political wilderness.
Q : But why do you feel you cannot succeed ?
A : Two reasons. One, is because of the conservationists within the party who are stillnot prepared to change its image and make it a broad-based organisation. The decade-longdebate I raised in this respect proved futile. Secondly, though the MGP was the solealternative to the misrule of the Congress from 1980 to 1990 and we did fair well, theslide began thereafter as we did not reach the threshold of coming back to power.Meanwhile, a new wave of political awareness swept the country with resurgence of the BJP.The fundamentalist Hindutva theory proved to be quite attractive for the electorate.
Q : And what about the era from 1990 to 99 ?
A : Well, our presence on the election scenario resulted only in splitting the votes tothe advantage of the Congress, while our people kept on migrating to the Congress and theBJP. It obviously weakened our strength day by day.
Q : If you ultimately feel so close to the Congress, why then you chose to align withthe BJP in the '94 Assembly polls and unsuccessfully attempted the same experiment justthree months ago ?
A : True, our honeymoon with the BJP turned sour. But it is because the BJP's innercore is different from its outer face. The face wanted the relation to assimilate the MGPmasses into the BJP whereas the core wanted that the masses sans its leaders. Theycontinuously indulged into backstabbing. If not, the alliance would have triumphed thistime with 23 to 28 seats including minimum 15 to the BJP. Maharashtra deputy chiefminister Gopinath Munde had almost reached the agreement. But the coterie saw thateverything is thrown overboard.
Q : Are you hinting at the Sangh Parivar or the central leadership ?
A : I would not name anybody in particular and definitely not the central leadership.In fact, they wanted the alliance. These are the few orthodox elements having strongholdover the local BJP here, I would say.
Q : How would you justify your joining the Congress when your plan to align with theBJP did not succeed ? Is it not contradictory ?
A : No. In fact the BJP wore a new face after the Ayodhya episode, minus Ram Mandir,Article 370, common civil code and Hindutva. It was almost another Congress in differentname. They also identified locally with our viewpoints like dual language policy, landreforms and anti-Congress stance.
Q : But how does that become justification to join the Congress, which you have opposedthroughout ?
A : Well, the masses have to be led somewhere where they would be respected. Even theleadership should be recognised properly.
Q : But you have joined the Congress to help chief minister Luizinho Faleiro save hisseat from the dissidents within the Congress ....
A : One minute, let me clarify one thing. I have not joined the Congress at Faleiro'srequest. It was the higher leadership like Manmohan Singh and Madhavrao Scindia who camedown as emissaries of Sonia Gandhi and invited me to join. Even all the other observerswho were down in Goa that time supported the view.
Q : Then why you could not succeed in merging the whole party into the Congress ?
A : You know how it is. There are different viewpoints, groups and lobbies within theMGP. It is also the sentimental association with the party, which was founded by BhausahebBandodkar. I don't want to hurt their sentiments.
Q : But are not these same sentiments, based on which you had opposed MGP merger intothe Congress when Bandodkar's daughter and former chief minister Shashikala Kakodkar tookthe initiative in 1980 ?
A : May be, but the situation was different at that time. We were the only oppositionin those days.
Q : Do you mean to say that it was a mistake at that time and not now ?
A : Certainly. Actually, it is much more than that. Just before 1979 elections, whenUnited Goans Party merged into Congress (Urs), I was telling Tai (Mrs Kakodkar) tomerge our party into Congress (I). In fact, Sitaram Kesri was sent down by late IndiraGandhi to hold talks. But she wanted to tie up with the Janata Party. Leaders like MadhuDandvate and Mrinal Gore came down and discussed it. But finally she decided to go alone.Had she listened to my proposal, the MGP, in the name of Cong (I), would have ruled Goatill date.
Meanwhile, late Babu Naik in Cong (U) secured alliance with Mrs Gandhi and then mergedhis party into Cong (I) overnight, after Mrs Gandhi swept the polls countrywide. MrsKakodkar then woke up and decided to merge our party into Cong (I). Naturally, I opposedit.
Q : If you see the whole journey of the MGP, it was formed at the initiative ofMaharashtra Congress leaders, then you went close to socialist outfits like Janata Party,then forged an alliance with the BJP and have now split and merged into Congress. Wheredoes the MGP stands ideologically in this whole game ?
A : Yes, I admit, there is no clear cut definition of ideology as far as the MGP isconcerned. We went more on pattern of the Congress. Late Bandodkar used to call himself atrue Congressman. But we were like a socialist outfit, believing in land to the tiller,judicious distribution of wealth and land etc.
Q : You have personally tried in the past to bring together all regional parties of thecountry together and have been a union minister in the United Front government, whichbelieved that it is an era of coalitions. The era is still on and regional parties play amajor role in it. Why at such a stage you have thought of merging your regional outfitinto one national party ?
A : You may be right at national level. But as far as Goa is concerned, I foreseeannihilation of regional forces here. Not because regional forces are ineffective, butother forces like the Congress and the BJP are forceful, aggressive and even violent. Theyare like the Moghul army invading the small principalities.
Q : Then why did you choose the Congress and not the BJP to surrender ?
A : To protect the Goan identity, I feel, Congress is the only viable alternative.
Q : What is this Goan identity ?
A : Have you noticed that Goa is becoming cosmopolitan in nature, like a mini India ?We have 25 per cent non-Goans today and would rise to 50 per cent in next 10 years. Goa isbecoming hub of every economic activity. By 2050, it might pose a serious challenge toBombay. Regional forces would not have any charm or future in such a situation.
Q : After functioning literally as a high command of your own outfit for almost 20years, you have now chosen a party where your whole activity is controlled by the highcommand. Secondly, the Congress in Goa is itself like a coalition of various kind ofgroups. How would you survive in such an atmosphere ?
A : While entering from the backwaters to the mainstream, I am fully aware of thehazards lying before me. It is like another Kargil for me. There are terrorists likeMojahidins lurching around in different garb all along the path. I have not opted for aneasy solution. It's a battle for me, with many 'if's.
Q : What if you lose the Lok Sabha polls ?
A : That is one 'if'. There are also questions like what if I win and the Congressloses or what if the Congress wins but I am not included in the central cabinet.
Q : But what if you lose and do not reach the Parliament ?
A : Well, I would try and influence party's policies at the local level. What else Ican do ?
