“The Speaker’s ruling was that the question could not be admitted because the matter was sub judice before the Bombay High Court. The Opposition could have challenged the ruling through the procedures available within the House, sought a detailed clarification, raised related questions that were admissible, demanded answers through other legislative mechanisms or taken the issue to the people outside the Assembly with documents and facts.
Instead, the well of the House became the preferred destination.
This is precisely where the Opposition needs to introspect.
An Opposition has one fundamental job in a legislature: to question the government, expose inconsistencies, demand accountability and force ministers to provide answers. It has the right to protest. It has the right to disagree. It has the right to be aggressive. But disruption cannot become a substitute for scrutiny.”
The Goa Legislative Assembly has barely begun its short monsoon session, but the Opposition has already squandered precious legislative time in a confrontation that achieved little beyond headlines. On the very first day, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao led Opposition MLAs into the well of the House after the Speaker disallowed a question concerning No Development Zones and land conversion. The House was adjourned for 10 minutes and, when the Opposition returned to the well, three MLAs were eventually marshalled out.
The Opposition may have had legitimate concerns about the question being disallowed. Land conversion and the interpretation of No Development Zones are among the most important issues confronting Goa today. There is a genuine public debate to be had about how land is being classified, what permissions are being granted and whether planning laws are being applied consistently.
But the manner in which the Opposition chose to raise the issue is deeply disappointing.
What exactly did Goa gain from the disruption?
The Speaker’s ruling was that the question could not be admitted because the matter was sub judice before the Bombay High Court. The Opposition could have challenged the ruling through the procedures available within the House, sought a detailed clarification, raised related questions that were admissible, demanded answers through other legislative mechanisms or taken the issue to the people outside the Assembly with documents and facts.
Instead, the well of the House became the preferred destination.
This is precisely where the Opposition needs to introspect.
An Opposition has one fundamental job in a legislature: to question the government, expose inconsistencies, demand accountability and force ministers to provide answers. It has the right to protest. It has the right to disagree. It has the right to be aggressive. But disruption cannot become a substitute for scrutiny.
The irony is that Question Hour, perhaps the most powerful instrument available to an Opposition MLA, was itself compromised.
Goa has only a three-day session to discuss matters of public importance. That makes every minute inside the Assembly valuable. Roads, land conversion, the environment, mining, tourism, unemployment, drug abuse, public health, education, infrastructure, law and order and the state’s finances are not issues that can wait for another convenient session. People expect their elected representatives to extract answers from the government while they have the opportunity.
Instead, the opening day produced scenes of slogans, protests and marshals escorting legislators out of the House.
That may make for compelling television footage. It may generate social media clips. It may allow political parties to claim that they “fought” for Goa. But politics cannot be reduced to footage for social media.
The Opposition must understand that Goans are not merely watching who shouts the loudest. They are increasingly asking who asks the right questions.
If the government is wrong, expose it with facts. If a department has violated procedure, put the documents on the table. If land has been illegally converted, identify the survey numbers, dates, permissions and officials responsible. If policies are benefiting a handful of people, demand the data. If ministers make contradictory statements, place those statements side by side and demand an explanation.
That is how an Opposition can corner a government.
Storming the well is comparatively easy.
The Opposition also needs to recognise that the government benefits when legislative proceedings are disrupted. Every minute lost is a minute in which ministers are not being questioned. Every adjournment reduces the number of issues that can be raised. Every walkout or marshalled removal shifts public attention from the substantive question to the conduct of the legislators.
In other words, disruption can inadvertently provide the government with political breathing space.
There is also a larger danger. Repeated theatrics can diminish the seriousness of the legislature itself. The Assembly is not a stage for political performance. It is the institution where the executive is held accountable on behalf of the people.
This does not mean the government should escape scrutiny. Far from it. The Speaker’s rulings must also be subject to legitimate questioning, particularly when Opposition members believe that an important public issue has been excluded from Question Hour. The ruling should be debated within the rules, and the government must remain open to answering every question that is legally and procedurally permissible.
But the Opposition must learn the difference between protest and performance.
Goa’s political Opposition is small. That makes its legislative time even more valuable, not less. With only seven Opposition MLAs, every question they ask carries greater weight. They cannot afford to spend their limited ammunition on slogans.
The people of Goa did not elect Opposition MLAs to occupy the well. They elected them to occupy their seats, study government files, ask uncomfortable questions and demand uncomfortable answers.
There are only three days.
Three days to grill the government.
Three days to put failures on record.
Three days to raise the people’s grievances.
Three days to make ministers answer.
Those three days should not be sacrificed at the altar of political theatrics. Goa needs an Opposition that fights the government with facts, questions and evidence. That would be far more powerful than shouting slogans in the well of the House.
The Opposition should remember one simple truth: the strongest way to embarrass a government is not to stop the Assembly from functioning. It is to make the government answer.
