Sixty-eight days in office hardly leaves any scope for one to judge the performance of a chief minister. But should Goa's CM, Luizinho Faleiro lose the trust vote on Monday, he will be best remembered by the people of Goa for his `janata darbars'.

Like Mohammed Bin Tughlak the maverick emperor of India, Faleiro would traverse the interiors of the state several times a week, entire bureaucracy in tow, to ``hear the grievances of the people''. More often than not, in an imperious gesture, the CM would pull up government employees to give the semblance of a working government. Needless to say, the CM's stunts could bring little more than cosmetic changes thanks to an empty treasury, among a host of other factors.

And visitors to the secretariat are left fuming with nobody to attend to them!

Remembering Rajiv

Wilfred D'Souza, the septuagenarian medical surgeon, who lobotomised the Congress party yet against could not help making a few shots at its president Sonia Gandhi.When reporters pointed out to D'Souza that Gandhi had objected to him appending her late husband's name to the Goa Rajiv Congress, the doctor remained nonchalant. The name, he insisted, was suggested by his foe-turned-friend-turned foe Dayanand Narvekar when they ganged up last year to overthrow former chief minister Pratapsinh Rane.

If Sonia was serious about her objections to the nomenclature, Narvekar would not have been welcomed back into the Congress, much less appointed deputy chief minister, D'Souza argued.

Trust the wily doctor to sow some confusion in the opposition ranks!

Political stories

Rumour-mongers and arm-chair theorists are having a field day as politicians try to sort out the mess they themselves wandered into.

As things stand, Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro who ruled for nearly two months with a majority of just one MLA has seen two of his supporters cross over to the other side.

With defeat staring him in the face, Faleiro is attempting to have defector Deu Mandrekardisqualified under the anti-defection law. According to political whisperings in Panaji, Speaker Tomazinho Cardozo will put in his papers after disqualifying Mandrekar so that there is no one on the chair to administer the trust vote by the CM. The fun and games will then begin as there is no Deputy Speaker in the Assembly. The last incumbent was busy playing defection games. His name: Deu Mandrekar, who quit the deputy speaker's post to become a minister.

Tailpiece

The first qualification, it is said, for a politician is the ability to tell lies with a straight face. The man who beats them all at this game in Goa is independent MLA John Manuel Vaz!

Some five months ago when he dumped then CM Pratapsinh Rane for Wilfred D'Souza he said he always admired doctors. ``Dr Willy asked me to join him, So I did'', he told every one.

Three months later it was: ``I don't want to be in a sinking ship,'' as he ditched D'Souza for Faleiro.

Last week when Vaz was back with the good doctor it was: ``Somequarter in the Congress wants to ensure may isolation'' Oh really!