Feni, Vidi, Vici Again

Manu Joseph June 17, 2002 00:00 IST Feni, Vidi, Vici Again -0001-11-30T00:00:00+05:53

If you throw a can of Kingfisher in Goa, it will hit a former chief minister. There are so many of them around. In the last 12 years alone, there have been 13. But even in this crowd, the new CM, Manohar Parrikar, stands out for having pulled off an incredible victory. In his last tenure, before his government fell, he was the first BJP CM in a state that may have never dreamt two years ago that such a day would come. Now he's back with a bang, proving all his detractors in Panaji wrong.

Appropriately, only the Goan Magicians Guild guessed the outcome of the polls correctly when they opened a sealed box after the election results and revealed their prediction. Seventeen seats to the BJP and 16 to the Congress. They were right because they were magicians and not political analysts. But if the BJP high command wants to point to the surprise in Goa and say that its merchandise is working in the "nation", it will be a somewhat desperate analysis.

Before the elections, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party shot themselves in their own foot. Says former chief...