Election Musings in Goa of yester years

While elections closed elsewhere in Goa, the process went on for days at the Calangute booth. A popular song in Portuguese was composed and it refers to the civic spirit of the citizens. The song caught popular fancy like wild fire.

Election as a procedure to select representatives is very old in Goa. Though Goa experienced de facto adult franchise only in the post-Liberation period, it is to be noted that some kind of electoral system did exist in Goa in the nineteenth century.

Some may claim that elections were held in Old Goa in the sixteenth century and others may even refer to the gaunkari system which existed during the pre-Portuguese period. However, at least from the nineteenth century, elections had to be held to elect Deputies and Senators to the Portuguese Parliament.

It is interesting to go through the history of elections in Goa, which has been weaved into mandos and Konkani folk songs. Here, however, it is decided to confine to one or two facets of those early elections.

Over a hundred years ago, a journal from Bombay repoted that there was no news in Goa except about elections and that elections make news in the otherwise static society. So elections did wield tremendous influence over the psyche of that society. Elections influenced the press of the day and had a powerful impact on the folk lore. The election strategists employed all means at their disposal including folk songs to make their point clear and ensure success.

Elections, sometimes, proved violent in the otherwise peaceful land of Parashurama. In 1891, it went to the extent of firing in Margao with the active involvement of the military. As a result of the incident, the leaders of the upheaval, Jose Inacio Loyola (Senior), and his four accomplices sought refuge in British India. A story goes that these leaders managed to escape from the house via the toilet. The Portuguese government requested the authorities of British India for the extradition of those leaders. Fortunately, the request led to a series of official correspondence which today is available at the National archiveds in New Delhi.

The media comprising the dailies and journals often took partisan stands. In fact, the journals of those days were meant to influence public opinion and quite often the objective presentation of news became a casualty. One of the finest examples of press strategy is found in the elections of 1926. O Heraldo plumped for Prazeres da Costa, one of the candidates for the Superior Council of colonies. At the other extreme was Mariano Martins, backed by Heraldo. In the elections, which appear to have been rigged, the battle was fought by the opposing dailies to the last polling booth.

The focus shifted to the village of Calangute. While elections closed elsewhere in Goa, the process went on for days at the Calangute booth. A popular song in Portuguese was composed and it refers to the civic spirit of the citizens. The song caught popular fancy like wild fire Heraldo reported that the conscientious voters went to Calangute as they did not want their vote to be manipulated by the electoral commissions at the other booths. In its vivid daily reports, it made it appear that a free atmosphere prevailed at the Calangute booth.

On the other hand, Heraldo painted a dismal picture of the Calangute ballot. It accused its opponents of rigging the elections. In one of its columns it reported that it was heard that scavengers had left Panjim in order to exercise their vote at the Calangute booth. In another report, it claimed that people from the lower strata were huddled like cattle and transported from Salcette in Caminhoes to their destination in Calangute.

These were the elections, which touched the heart of the society, often inflicting deep wounds which refused to heal. It attempted to split the society vertically and the prejudices generated continued to carry on the impact even into the next generation. For instance, persons were labelled as "Prazeristas" or "Marianistas", depending on the party one supported. Fortunately, the present society has come out of those caste and feudal prejudices which ruled the roost at electoral battles those days whenever elections were round the corner.

^gnCarmo D'Souza