The Congress has launched an advertisement blitz on television channels with ‘Kattar Soch Nahi, Yuva Josh’ (No to fanaticism, Yes to Youthfulness) in several Indian languages. The campaign is aimed at an image makeover of Rahul Gandhi, the party’s undeclared Prime Ministerial candidate. Hasiba Amin, president, NSUI’s Goa unit, features in the Hindi version of the advertisement. She is seeking votes for Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi, in turn, has positioned himself as a crusader against corruption, at least in Congress advertisements if not in real life. It would be interesting to ascertain Hasiba’s approach to corruption. In February 2012, shortly after her election to president, NSUI (Goa), she asked for the expulsion of her deputy Sunil Kawthankar, the vice-president, NSUI (Goa). What was Kawthankar’s crime? As the previous president, NSUI (Goa), Kawthankar had apparently damaged the interests of the Congress! Kawthankar had been running a campaign to expose corruption and criminal links inside Goa’s Congress Government. Since the NSUI is the student’s unit of Congress itself, Kawthankar’s campaign was leading to embarrassment for the party. His targets were Ravi Naik, Home Minister and Churchill Alemao, PWD Minister in Digambar Kamat’s Cabinet. Kawthankar alleged that drug mafia in Goa enjoyed patronage of some Congress Ministers. In July 2010 he had started a signature campaign to pitch for a CBI inquiry into these criminal linkages. He alleged that Goa police had entrenched links with the drug mafia. He intended to hand over to Rahul Gandhi more than 50,000 signatures collected in support of his campaign. He even stated in a public meeting that Rahul Gandhi would intervene in the matter. But Crime Branch, Goa Police started harassing Kawthankar. Rahul always talks about RTI but doesn’t tell why 2G, Coalgate happened then: BJP On being elected the President of NSUI (Goa) on January 17, 2012 Hasiba promised all help to Congress in the Assembly election. It was unusual for the students’ unit to speak about overt support to the Congress. Interestingly while advocating expulsion Kawthankar a few weeks later, she accused him of neglecting student issues and taking up political issues instead. Hasiba herself had won convincingly with support of Valanka Alemao, former president, NSUI (Goa) and CEO, Churchill Brothers football team. Valanka is the daughter of the then PWD Minister Churchill Alemao, whom Kawthankar had accused of large-scale corruption and filed a criminal complaint against him. Kawthankar had filed an RTI to unearth information the with the CBI had on Alemao’s disproportionate assets from unknown sources. The CBI refused to share the information, apparently because the agency is outside RTI’s purview. But the real reasons are anybody’s guess. Kawthankar did not run out of steam even after losing to Hasiba. He accused Churchill Alemao of being a part of syndicate involved in circulating fake currency in Goa’s money market. He said he would revive an old case pertaining to Churchill Alemao’s burning the national tricolour. The charges were serious enough to merit hearing. But neither Hasiba nor Rahul Gandhi was charitable towards him. Within a month, the Congress Government faced a humiliating defeat in Goa Assembly election (March, 2012). The PWD Minister Churchill Alemao himself lost his seat. He blamed everybody from Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, to EVMs to Catholic priests for ensuring his defeat. Meanwhile, Kawthankar kept his campaign up. In December, 2012 he filed complaint (on behalf of the NSUI-Goa) against former Home Minister Ravi Naik and his son Roy Naik with Goa Police over their links with narcotics trade. The complaint could be filed at State level only because the Government had changed in Panaji. But Hasiba came out to clarify that NSUI had nothing to do with the complaint. It was filed by Kawthankar in his individual capacity. In October, 2013 a Multi-Party House Committee of Goa Legislative Assembly recommended criminal investigations against Ravi Naik, his son Roy Naik, and former DGP of Goa Kishen Kumar. Its 125-page report was prepared after a year-long inquiry. Ravi Naik was quick to label it as an act of political vendetta, though the two BJP members Vishnu Bagh and Michael Logo had remained absent during the adoption of the report. In this whole narrative, Sunil Kawthankar appears to be the real crusader against corruption. He is still in NSUI and has not migrated to greener political pastures as predicted by Hasiba. But Hasiba emerges as the one trying to muzzle his voice. It is a pity that Rahul Gandhi has Hasiba rather than Kawthankar on his side.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 11:17:30 +0000
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