STATES: GOA

Sustained Saffron

As Manohar Parrikar completes a year in office, the BJP and political stability seem to have arrived

By V. Shankar Aiyar in Panaji

It wasn't too long back. During the 1991 elections, a band of young professionals used to spend the nights painting the roads of Goa. One set would clean up a spot every 200 m, another would chalk the outline and the third set would use lime to fill in the party symbol. By morning, there would be 100 symbols painted across a distance of nearly 20 km. It did not matter to them that in the 1989 polls all the 11 contestants lost their deposits and the total number of votes they polled was 2,386. One of them was contesting for a Lok Sabha seat and they were sure of his victory. He didn't win but he did save his deposit. The party: the BJP. The candidate: Manohar Parrikar.

THE SURVIVOR: Astute political and fiscal steps have helped Parrikar retain control

Last month these professionals got together at Hotel Nova Goa to celebrate over tomato soup, chicken cafreal and Goan prawn-curry rice. The day: October 23. The occasion: a year since the band of professionals had, in a smooth and unexpected coup, wrested power from a rag-tag coalition. It was the day Parrikar completed a year as chief minister of Goa, the first non-Congress chief minister to have managed the feat. In the past 10 years, Goa has seen 13 chief ministers who have lasted an average of six months. Indeed, one of them was sworn in on Fool's Day and sacked four days later. So when Parrikar seized power last October not many believed he would last till the new year, let alone complete a year.

The primary reason was the quality of support: the 10-member BJP group had roped in eight MLAs from the Congress and had the support of eight others, including independents. By any measure 26 in a house of 40 was a comfortable majority, but not by Goan standards. Indeed, Laxmikant Parsekar, a member of the band of 1991 and BJP chief in Goa, reveals, "The Congress tried hard to topple us in the first four months but failed." Perhaps it was the presence of seven claimants, including four former chief ministers, in the Congress or perhaps the MLAs had tired of the split-and-rule games, but Parrikar has survived the turbulence of Goa politics. The Congress simply could not match Parrikar's networking ability.

As a first time MLA in 1994, he cut across party lines and fought to raise the remuneration for MLAs from a mere Rs 1,800 a month to Rs 28,000 now. Using the network established, Parrikar not only managed to keep the wolves at bay, but also consolidated his position. Last week, three more MLAs joined the BJP, taking its strength to 21. In fact, the buzz now is that the two MLAs of coalition partner Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party are likely to switch sides and convert the regime to a pure BJP government.

But it is not just the numbers. As M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union minister and in some ways the mentor of the Goa BJP, says, "It is ability that has given stability." For Parrikar it is the quality of governance that makes the difference. Clearly, the internship during Francisco Sardinha's regime in which Parrikar was the backseat driver helped. "I was observing governance from close quarters and had definite ideas on issues."

One such issue was the way elected representatives mocked the law. So Parrikar began by enforcing the rule of law. Somnath Zuarkar, Dayanand Narvekar and Mauvin Godinho-powerful Congress leaders-were arrested and have been charge-sheeted for various scams. Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro dubs it a "political vendetta". But Parrikar maintains that he "simply let the law take its course". The truth: Parrikar designed their downfall. As Parsekar explains, "There was a feeling among people in Goa that once people had been elected they were immune to the law. We changed that."

True. But what has impressed Goans (and Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha) is Parrikar's attempt to stem the financial rot and improve revenue inflow by 36 per cent. His experience as a technocrat-businessman has clearly helped. The key, says Parrikar, has been fiscal innovation. He restructured user charges for 183 items to raise Rs 40 crore. For instance, gun licence fees were hiked to Rs 500 from Rs 100 and court fees for cutting trees were raised 50 times from Rs 2 to Rs 100. But it is not just hikes. Parrikar has slashed some levies, like those on hotels, and improved compliance. Not surprisingly, a recent Crisil report has lauded "the progressive economic management of the state" that is reflected in "the proactive measures taken by the Government". The innovations are not all fiscal in nature. Under the Dayanand Social Security Net, the Life Insurance Corporation provides a monthly pension of Rs 500 to about 25,000 destitutes, while the Government foots a bill of Rs 42,000.