Sandesh Prabhudesai
27 April 1999
No matter when the general elections take place, Goa’s Assembly
polls cannot go beyond first week of June, after which monsoons hit this tiny coastal
state.
The constitutional experts here have ruled out the possibility of
postponing the Assembly polls after monsoons in case the general elections are held later,
because the term of the President’s rule in Goa ends on 11 August.
Though the President is empowered to issue a proclamation to extend the
period of central rule, it needs to be ratified by both the Houses of Parliament within 60
days, which means by 11 October in case of Goa. This possibility appears remote since
holding general elections by September end to constitute the new Lok Sabha is a rare
possibility due to monsoons in the northern belt.
Though Goa elections were tentatively scheduled for May end, it is
crystal clear that it would be postponed by yet another week if general elections are
scheduled by first week of June, to hold it together. Goa’s revised electoral roll
would however be published tomorrow.
But the one-week postponement would bring in a marked difference as far
as the local political scenario is concerned. The local elections would be then blended
with national flavour, overshadowing the local issues.
Ramakant Khalap, the former union law minister and leader of the
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak party, admits that the advantage would obviously go to the BJP
with the Congress and other opposition parties cutting a sorry figure by failing miserably
to form an alternative government.
Luizinho Faleiro, the Goa PCC chief, however disagrees. "The die
is cast in favour of the Congress as shown with the recent elections results in four
states", he claims, but declines to comment on how the declining trend in favour of
the Congress since ’94 Assembly polls would change in Goa.
Most of the political parties, including the Congress, the BJP and the
MGP, here have also favoured simultaneous elections by first week of June. The only
exception is former chief minister Dr Wilfred de Souza, leader of the Goa Rajiv Congress,
who does not mind Assembly polls in the midst of heavy showers, as was held after Rajiv
Gandhi’s assassination.
Goa remains totally wet from second week of June till September, making
it quite difficult to conduct elections.
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