Special Correspondent Panaji
When the results of the 2012 state assembly elections were announced and the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power, the public mandate was widely attributed to opposition to dynastic or “family raj” politics of the Congress.
At that time, ‘Friends of Good Governance’ (FOGG), a watchdog organisation supporting the BJP, had made family raj a key election issue.
Ironically, the party, which continues an uninterrupted third term, has gradually come to be represented by several political families, with three couples — Rane, Lobo and Monserrate — currently representing the BJP in the legislative assembly.
This trend continued during the recently held Zilla Panchayat elections, with the BJP allotting several candidatures to family members of its public representatives.
This development appeared to support a recent statement by Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who said, “Goa’s political power has remained concentrated within around 15 families since Liberation, leaving ordinary citizens excluded from meaningful political representation.”
Goa Forward Party president Vijai Sardesai had also urged voters to reject the BJP’s family raj, with both AAP and GFP making the issue central to their campaigns.
Despite this, Siddhesh Naik, son of Union Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy Shripad Naik, and Gauri Shirodkar, daughter of Water Resources Minister Subhash Shirodkar, were declared BJP candidates and won from Corlim and Shiroda constituencies respectively.
Merciana Vas, wife of Cortalim MLA Antonio Vas, contested as an independent candidate supported by the BJP and won from Cortalim.
It should be noted that both Naik and Vas were sitting Zilla Panchayat members and retained their seats.
These results indicate that voters did not prioritise the family raj issue in the Zilla Panchayat elections, and were willing to vote for candidates from political families.
Political observers and opposition parties had suggested that voters faced a choice between an entrenched system of family raj and candidates rooted in grassroots public service. However, the Zilla Panchayat results indicate that voters were more inclined towards political parties rather than individual candidates, irrespective of family affiliations.
