Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Former Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) president and former member Manoj Parab has questioned the willingness of Goa’s political leadership to assert the state’s interests in the ongoing Mhadei water dispute, accusing leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress of prioritising their national party high commands over Goa’s water rights.
In a social media post, Parab alleged that Goan leaders from both parties were more concerned about demonstrating loyalty to their central leadership than demanding Goa’s rightful share of Mhadei waters. He questioned why they were reluctant to raise the issue firmly with their own party leadership in Delhi.
Parab also challenged the claims of both parties that they are committed to protecting Goa’s land and environment, arguing that the state’s environmental security cannot be separated from the protection of its vital water resources.
Criticising successive Congress and BJP governments, he argued that the state’s interests had suffered under a political culture in which decisions and party loyalties were shaped by leadership at the national level.
The former RGP president’s remarks bring the focus back to a key question in Goa’s political discourse: whether the state’s leaders can independently defend its interests when these involve difficult negotiations or disagreements within their own parties.
The Mhadei dispute remains a major concern for Goa because of the river’s importance to the state’s water security and ecological balance. Parab’s criticism centres on the demand for greater political accountability and a stronger assertion of Goa’s interests by its elected representatives.
