Panaji: Even as RTI Activist Rajan Ghate’s fast unto death was labeled as ‘non-political’, the clamour of Congress leaders, specially Mahila Wing, around him had made it obvious that it was fuelled by Rahul Gandhi led party. But what is also significant is that the party could not fetch much political benefit out of the fast and agitation revolving around it.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee wrongly timed all its activities and showed complete political immaturity to reap the benefit out of the entire agitation, which was an extension of the protest started by them demanding resumption of Governanace in the State.
While GPCC President Girish Chodankar said that Ghate’s hunger strike was never an initiative of Congress party, the photo opportunities grabbed by Mahila Congress led by Pratima Coutinho and her team, were unexplainable.
Coutinho has even gone to the extend of giving in writing to District Administration that Ghate’s health was her responsibility when he was fasting at Azad Maidan.
Incidentally, the noise made by Mahila Congress during the fast could not reach out of Azad Maidan, indicating that the lady wing of the party could not handle the fast, which had a potential to give the political outfit, the mileage.
When contacted, Chodankar said that the fast was a call given by activists and we supported it.
“The fast was led b NGOs and Activists and we were just supporting it. Our agitation on this issue had started long back when we observed century without CM,” he said.
Congress’ Goa Spokesman Yatish Naik said that Ghate’s fast is a very genuine effort of one person to highlight the issue of absence of governance. “He has been supported by citizens across the state and across political parties. Basically, his fast was to highlight a very genuine issue and therefore it received good support from all the quarters of civil society and people across party lines,” Naik added.
The NGOs and the activists seems to have made most out of the strike that continued for eleven days. The parties like Shiv Sena, NCP and AAP also tried to milk the opportunity, but failed to take ahead the cause for which the RTI activist was sitting.
Sources close to Ghate said that all the attempts were made to ensure that the fast is not hijacked by any particular section or political party.
Aires Rodrigues, suddenly, arising in the events through public protests, was also surprising. But Rodrigues withdrew as fast as he arrived.
The fast that was picking up momentum suddenly ran into anti-climax when Ghate was taken to GMC on health grounds.
While he assured to come back on the day when Congress held Satyagraha at Azad Maidan, he never returned and instead broke the fast in the hospital itself and then travelled home from there.
The Congress has now vowed to take ahead the agitation. While Congress may be able to reap the political benefits of the agitation in future, Ghate will surely go in the history as one man who dared to sit for a strike against the establishment.
