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Friday, February 04, 2005
Film festival leads to political upheaval
Whoever thought cinema could be this powerful. The Goa film festival, held a couple of months ago, started the chain of events that led to the dismissal of the Manohar Parrikar government there. According to a report in the Pioneer:
The man in charge of that ministry was the grandiosely named Antanasio Babush Monserrate, who allegedly began to reclassify land "from residential or green to commercial". Corruption charges against him were brought to the notice of Parrikar, who, to his credit, sacked Monserrate – a decision that was apperently "endorsed" by SMS messages from the public.
This was a politically risky move for Parrikar, as Monserrate controlled four independent MLAs, who could shift the balance of power in the state legislature. But he had taken Pratapsinh Rane, the leader of opposition, into confidence before sacking Monserrate, and Rane had assured him of his support on this issue. All that changed, of course, as Monserrate decided to strike back at Parrikar, with Rane the beneficiary.
Parrikar is in New Delhi now, fighting back against what he deems an unwarranted move by the state governor. Monserrate is in Goa, on firm (and commercial?) ground again. The last show of the film festival is long over, but the drama continues.
When there was talk of making Goa the permanent venue for the film festival, the event unleashed fierce speculation on land prices and a host of developers and builders got very excited at the prospect. Simultaneously the role of the Town Planning Ministry became very important as land for commercial purposes was limited and the ministry had the mandate to change the "land use".
The man in charge of that ministry was the grandiosely named Antanasio Babush Monserrate, who allegedly began to reclassify land "from residential or green to commercial". Corruption charges against him were brought to the notice of Parrikar, who, to his credit, sacked Monserrate – a decision that was apperently "endorsed" by SMS messages from the public.
This was a politically risky move for Parrikar, as Monserrate controlled four independent MLAs, who could shift the balance of power in the state legislature. But he had taken Pratapsinh Rane, the leader of opposition, into confidence before sacking Monserrate, and Rane had assured him of his support on this issue. All that changed, of course, as Monserrate decided to strike back at Parrikar, with Rane the beneficiary.
Parrikar is in New Delhi now, fighting back against what he deems an unwarranted move by the state governor. Monserrate is in Goa, on firm (and commercial?) ground again. The last show of the film festival is long over, but the drama continues.
