Dear Digambarbab,
I trust that you are in a better place than you were for the last 10 years. And you have God to thank for it. He works in mysterious ways, which we mortals cannot fathom. But you, as I see, are not a mere mortal. You are a politician with a hotline to Him.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate you for becoming a minister again. It is a far cry from the post of Chief Minister that you held once upon a time, but then beggars cannot be choosers.
At your age, I thought long walks in the morning would be good for health, but you have shown us that jumping is better.
You will soon rediscover that the cushions on the treasury bench are soft and warmer. The air conditioning is free and so are the cars. And the returns on investment are way above mutual funds.
I heard that your decision to move from the Congress to the BJP was advised by God himself, which is remarkable. I mean, many of us have been praying for years, and we cannot even get elected to the Legislative Assembly. If you think I am joking, ask Girish Chodankar.
You seem to have a deep, yet convenient connection with God. You will understand that this does raise a few questions. Like which God did you pray to? Because there are a number of them.
For instance, when you went before God and pledged not to defect from the Congress, was it the same God? Or is there one God for pledges, true or false, and another for defections?
By the way, why did you stop praying after making the switch? I mean, look at what happened in the Margao Municipal Council elections? Or perhaps you lost focus because you were busy praying for a favourable portfolio. Like, perhaps mining.
You will agree that mining under your tenure as Chief Minister turned quite messy. In fact, very messy. Manohar Parrikar struggled to rectify it. Laxmikant Parsekar did what he was told (God or no God), and Pramod Sawant is desperately trying to get a grip on it, with or without God.
But then, I believe everybody deserves a second chance. Let’s hope Sawant and I are on the same page on this.
All politicians pray to God, I suppose, but you were the only one to openly give Him credit. Most people would accuse you of mixing religion with politics. Not me. I say give credit where it is due — heaven or hell.
While we are on the issue of Gods, you might want to throw some light on which God you were praying to during those Louis Berger days? My hunch is you outsourced this God thing to Churchill Alemao, and he made an utter mess of it.
However, as far as the present political move goes, I agree, your God advised you well. I mean, who would have thought of resolving Berger with a merger?
I am glad to know that Margao has a leader who believes in himself and God. However, now that you are in the BJP, you will not require God.
You have Amit Shah.
Yours Sincerely
