Narendra Modi was first the prime minister and next a BJP leader next during his visit to Goa last week.
Much to the disappointment of the party's state leaders, Modi not only advised fiscal prudence in his speech, but also practiced it in deed, by not acceding to demands by the Goa BJP's unit for fancy doles and the mining compensation package rhetoric which was as thick as the humidity in the monsoon-bound coastal state.
The party's state leaders, in selective interviews to the media, had reeled out a virtual wish-list of ahead of the Modi visit.
One of the top demand included a Rs.3000 crore ($500 million) relief package to alleviate the financial hardship faced by the stakeholders in the mining industry. This, even as the state government has been unable to leverage sufficiently on mining companies for compensating their out-of-work employees and not laying off thousands of workers after the ban on mining.
Modi, during his multiple engagements, did not mention the financial package, but while referring to the mining crisis, ensured that ministers would work "pro-actively" to resolve it.
Modi also dropped a bombshell, when he said that extracted iron ore should consumed domestically and not exported. Nearly all of Goa's iron ore (the state extracted more than 55 million tons a couple of years back, before the industry was banned following a Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam) is exported to China, something Modi appears keen to halt.
Asked to comment on the lack of reference to the mining compensation package in Modi's speech, party spokesperson Pramod Sawant told IANS: "We were looking forward to it. But I am sure he has the good of Goa in mind and he will rightfully help those affected by the mining ban. The BJP has no doubt about it."
Another item on the Goa BJP's wish-list was a central grant for building a bridge across the Zuari river, even as the fitness of the present bridge is in doubt. Modi in his speech made no promises to shell out money. The Zuari bridge is the only direct road-connect between the two districts of North Goa and South Goa and is critical artery in Goa's road map.
Modi also did not acknowledge the demand for a separate All India Service (AIS) cadre for Goa, which has been Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's pet demand. Goa is presently a part of the Arunchal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and other Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre and shares its AIS officers with partner states and UTs.
But perhaps the most significant let down for Goans is the Modi's inability to articulate his position on conferring special status to Goa. The demand has been made by political parties across the board as well as a large section of civil society, even as Goa's limited land resources and massive in-migration, across strata, is threatening to change the state's social and cultural identity.
Activist Prajal Sakhardande, who along with state Forest and Environment Minister Alina Saldanha spearheads Goa's Movement for Special Status (GMSS) claims that the state should be accorded this under Article 371 of the Indian constitution to protect its natural and unique cultural heritage and identity.
Sakhardande even met Modi when he was on his election campaign trail and he had even mentioned it in his public speech in Goa. But Modi the prime minister dodged the issue during his visit. Sakhardande now claims, that he was in fact betrayed by BJP leaders, who scotched his chances of formally meeting and reminding Modi of his promise.
"I met with our CM on June 11 to fix up the appointment (with Modi). CM agreed to our request but on June 13 we realized that our appointment was nowhere in sight," Sakhardande claims in his Facebook post.
Sawant, however, told IANS that while the BJP would continue to raise the special status issue with Modi, but "solving the mining issue was a priority right now".
(Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be contacted at mayabhushan.n@ians.in)
