‘Goa First’ - A limited offer till elections? -Soter

 Lead article published in oHeraldo July 27, 2026

The electorate is treated to a high-pitched symphony of panic and salvation that blinds reason.

The lure of power and money in Goa's notorious history of political musical chairs is strong, and the people currently in such a system do not see the need to change their ways. A sense of artificial urgency is created by framing every election as a final and apocalyptic battle to "Save Goa". A politician's market value in an election drastically inflates on an emotive anti-establishment platform. Voters are pressured to ignore the candidate’s personal integrity, past defections, or complete lack of a constructive policy roadmap. The fear created is that any dissent or scrutiny will split the vote and hand the state over to the destructive forces. This manufactured panic is highly effective at short-circuiting critical thinking. 

In the months preceding a major election, we witness a predictable theatrical performance. It’s all about a sudden and dramatic outburst of discontentment followed by revolts and desertions. Prominent faces walk away in a huff of righteous indignation, sometimes instantly floating a brand-new political outfit or gravitating towards the ruling dispensation depending on how their selfish ambitions can materialise. They present themselves as regional saviours, born out of a desperate need to give Goans a "clean local alternative" untainted by the compromises from party high commands. The optics are perfect, a united front fighting to save the state from exploitation. This performance offers a glimmer of hope for voters desperate for change and stability.

The latest explosive public exchanges in some or the other political party, over change of leadership or accusations of corruption within the party rank, appears to be about a singular nakedly ambitious commodity. This desperate infighting has absolutely nothing to do with safeguarding any party’s collective interests, nor is it a noble defence against some leadership collusion with the regime in power. It’s a brutal transactional turf war over who gets to dictate the candidate list for the upcoming assembly elections, and whose personal electoral ambitions have suddenly been jeopardized by the change of guard.  Such internal bickering becomes an excuse to blackmail or float new political outfits under the guise of salvaging secular politics from some imagined conspiracy within the leadership.

There are enough warning signs that the very unique fabric of the State is on the brink of total annihilation. Goa, is passing through a dark phase of gloom and uncertainty and cannot afford the cost of a squabbling opposition looking to further their selfish ambitions. The painful truth is that in Goa’s deeply transactional political ecosystem the jargon of resistance has been thoroughly commodified. Some opportunists and habitual disruptors cannot restrain their urge to add fuel to fire in a bid to make themselves relevant. The electorate is treated to a high-pitched symphony of panic and salvation that blinds reason. Phrases like "Saving Goa" and "Secular Opposition Unity" are no longer a guarantee of genuine ideological commitments. They function as sophisticated emotional toolkits designed for a singular and dual-layered purpose of acquisition of State power and the furthering financial prospects.

The primary strategy of manipulative politics is to keep the electorate in a permanent state of emotional crisis. Political parties in Goa do not operate on ideological convictions. They invest in studying how to manipulate the voters. They operate on data, psychological profiling, and economic leverage. Leaders switch sides, fake ideological shifts, and fabricate political crises to keep the public confused, angry, and distracted. The people’s anger becomes their currency. Political strategists do not fear people’s anger; they budget for it. They know that public outrage has a short shelf life, easily disrupted by a sudden influx of money, targeted community divisions, or a wave of freebies when elections are due. When a political party relies on manipulation, its strategy is clear. Divide the opposition vote, engineer artificial crises, and buy out local influencers. Politicians do not create a fragmented electorate out of thin air. They simply farm the fractures that voters willingly provide.

The public's exhaustion is used to make them cynical and passive, knowing that an exhausted public will be too drained to hold them accountable. An anxious electorate will not question their backroom deals in the interest of unity and development. Manipulative politicians are experts at using emotional triggers. They talk about identity, religion, or sudden "development emergencies" to justify their games of political convenience. This cycle will continue to repeat itself until there is a fundamental shift in how the electorate evaluates political issues and alliances. When the public separates a politician's theatrical statements from the actual reality on the ground the political circus will lose its power over people’s emotions.

Goa’s tragedy is that the voter's response to this manipulation is rarely about any counter-strategy. It is ridden with a herd mentality and reactivity coupled with expectations for a quick fix. The voters play into the hands of politicians by treating elections like a seasonal football match. They cheer labels rather than subjecting political narratives and individuals to scrutiny. The voter then cries foul and alleges a betrayal by the political class, while failing to realise that it was their own ballot that engineered the outcome.

The future of Goa will not be saved by hoping for a political messiah. It will be saved when the Goan voter decides to stop being a pawn in the political game and starts rewriting the rules of the board. Voters need to invest their collective energy in studying how to recognise and defeat manipulative strategies.  The true test for the forthcoming election will not be about whether opposition parties have succeeded in their political strategies, but how the electorate has performed against a highly manipulative political system designed to subvert their will. When citizens evaluate the next election, they need to look at their choices in the mirror, not the television screen.