Last Saturday, Goan politicians added yet another shady controversy in its Hall of Shame with the detention of Education minister Babush Monseratte by the Customs officials at the Mumbai international airport for allegedly trying to smuggle huge amounts of money including foreign currency abroad.
This is not something new and it is an open secret that many ministers in the Digambar Kamat led government have ill gotten money stashed away in foreign banks. However with Monseratte being caught red handed at the airport, all the doubts have been erased from the minds of the public that ministers have amassed wealth disproportionate to their known source of income. Infact some of the ministers do not even have any source of income besides the salary and perks for being an elected representative. But their wealth has surpassed several times over compared to their known source of income.
Last year in one of my articles in this same column, I had said the chief minister Digambar Kamat had given a carte blanc to his cabinet colleagues to loot and plunder the state and today it has come true with customs nabbing a Education minister with excessive Indian and Foreign currency.
Be that as it may, another not so surprising development is that ministers as well as Congress MLAs have grouped together to protect Babush Monseratte from the onslaught of the BJP who are baying for his blood. To my mind demanding his resignation is too small a price to pay. What is required is to make the entire cabinet to resign for repeatedly disgracing Goa and Goans. Chief minister Digambar Kamat should take moral responsibility for the manner in which his ministers are behaving and his inability to hold sway over them and give the lead by stepping down. Besides that, he has been the worst chief minister Goa has experienced since Liberation in terms of administration and governance. Corruption by ministers has never seen such heights. They have amassed wealth to last for generations to come, however Divine powers seems to be making them lose it to authorities like in the case of Education minister.
For Opposition Leader Manohar Parrikar opportunity could not be knocking at more appropriate time. He is still reeling under the impact of losing CCP election to Taleigao MLA. Parrikar was also rattled about his diminishing prospects in the capital city and to add to it, Education minister had disclosed his interests in contesting the polls against his bête noire. Today Parrikar is a happy man as he is all set to paint the town red with Monseratte’s alleged smugglers credentials. Not that Monseratte was ever a role model, but he never ever tried to change it either.
Today all the ministers and Congress MLAs have thrown a safety cordon around him so as to pressurize the chief minister not to drop him from the cabinet. However these illiterate ministers have taken a leaf from Manohar Parrikar’s book of tricks. Lest we forget that Opposition Leader during his stint as chief minister with Monseratte as his minister had driven to his house, when Income Tax sleuths had raided it and tried to stop the raid. Parrikar had threatened them for not seeking his permission before the raid. Parrikar had not stopped at that, he had closed the CBI office in Goa. And today ruling members have resorted to a similar thing.
Of course ruling members have loads of skeletons to hide and now they are playing the game of ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’. Most of the ministers in the Goa government have accumulated huge amounts of wealth. This also includes hard cash in Indian as well as foreign currency. It is also an open secret that they have opened overseas accounts to stockpile it there. The authorities are very much aware of these hawala transactions of the ministers but their lips sealed with a certain percentage of the ill-gotten wealth of Goan ministers finding its way into the accounts of the authorities. Otherwise why would a top Custom officer from Goa rush to Mumbai upon hearing the detention news of Education minister Babush Monseratte.
Coming back to the point I was making about ministers having accumulated ill-gotten wealth, getting together to support Babush Monseratte at this crucial moment is akin to coming together of similar type of people. They very well know that time might come when they will be in a similar situation and will need the help. Bestselling author Jeffery Archer had put it aptly while titling his novel, ‘Honour among Thieves’. At the same time there is another aspect to it. Education minister will try very hard to be in power because he has learned the hard way that things can be made to happen only when you are in power, otherwise in all probability he will have a long innings behind bars.
All Chors have grouped together to hide their sinister deeds. All should be hanged in public and looted wealth of goa should be brought back. Enough itself for the immediate development of the infrastructure. These politicians are draining Goa of it's resources. Digambar kamat is the worst of all of the politicians who is blind, dumb and deaf at the same time for overlooking all the wrongs happening in his Ministry of Chors.
ReplyDeleteBirds of a feather flock together. Monserrate may be just one among the honorable thieves. All ministers have skeletons in the cupboard. Probably also hard cash stashed in the cupboards. He could have been carrying his own or even other ministers' pile of cash for stashing in the "cupboards" of foreign banks.
ReplyDeleteHonor among Thieves, a befitting title. The whloe mess in Goa is created by the behest of our USELESS CHIEF MINISTER, WHO DONOT HAVE ANY CONTORL ON THE MINISTERS.
ReplyDeleteForeign countries enjoy taking money from politicians around the world be it dirty or clean as it boosts their, they do not have a conscience. This gives our Goan ministers the reason to invest and deposit their ill gotten loot abroad. Although being a democratic country, in Goa peaceful demonstrations against politicians will not be productive, as they are immune to them. Physical confrontation is the only answer.
ReplyDeleteVery charming Goan illiterate politicians are one of the richest in the world. We have a eight standard school drop out who has fathered a rapists and a druggist in his family. The other illiterate of the south represents Navelim deceived us all. Many Goans are shameless electing the same persons of the two main parties repeatedly to power. Are there no educated persons in Navelim?
ReplyDeleteCHOR, CHOR, CHOR......all of them are devils....The CM should be thrown out of Goa. In any other country in the west he would have to resign a long time ago! He only knows to bless A/C toilets!! Ravi has his donkey sons collecting a salary to keep them from selling drugs. Roy will never be prosecuted. His father is like the fox watching over the chicken house. No justice in Goa or India! If we go with the BJP we are stuck with communalists! We just don’t have a choice???? THANKS to the moron Freedole Farters! They sold us and OUR Goa to the INDIAN style democracy. Let see if the PM will grow some balls and sign the Lokpal bill???? They want to sit at the UN table yet the country has a 'dirty style democracy - "Dirty-cracy".
ReplyDeleteWell Mr. Nisser, the Goan ministers are all honourable, honourable Thieves, Honourable Crooks, Honourable Corrupts, Honourable Rapists etc etc.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest CHOR is the Congress Government where every criminal is accomodated depending on the rank of their crimes, the bigger the crime, the bigger the post. Congress Government is the cancer of India but BJP is not any better.
ReplyDeleteNavelkars, this time will not vote for Chorchill is what i am hearing often. It is the Congress or other Parties who are posting these chors and looters as their candidates leaving us no choice . Besides No honest person is seen coming forward as a candidate and if one does come forward he is either intimidated or bought for a price. Once upon a time Chorchill intimidated one candidate to get Luizinho elected.
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