Goa's silent majority is all set to do an encore. After cheering Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill who'd suggested that the common man in Goa wanted Assembly polls deferred, a signature campaign to this effect will greet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee when he visits the state next week.

Clearly tapping the groundswell of popular opposition to Assembly polls in May, a local newspaper is collecting one lakh signatures which will be presented to the Prime Minister. CEC Gill told the media here that Presidents' rule in the state, which expires in August, can be extended only with the approval of Parliament and the monsoon would prevent holding of polls just then.

Going by popular opinion, an election just now would only turn in a fractured verdict, resulting in defections and political instability. Of course, veteran armyman JFR Jacob's sterling performance in the gubernatorial post has a lot to do with the opinion.

Yesterday Once More

Nearly three years after hewas pulled out as governor of Goa, former foreign secretary Romesh Bhandari is in the news again. The local media is agog with Bhandari's attempts to write the history of Goa.

Turns out that when in UP, Bhandari allegedly tried to wheedle subscriptions for his yet-to-be-published book.

Though the volume, issued recently, is priced at a few hundred rupees a copy, Bhandari reportedly wanted the state government and local industrialists to pick it up it at a cool Rs 1000 per copy!

That much of the material published is lifted from existing publications is another story.

One For The Road

At a press conference held at Raj Bhavan recently, members of the press complained about the danger to scooterists on Goa's roads. The harangue lasted until the governor urged them to reflect on the virtue of wearing crash helmets. The mediamen then did some quick thinking; some came up with what they apparently thought was a great compromise solution: that persons riding short distances should be exemptedfrom wearing helmets.

Tail Piece

Coming to Goa on duty, Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill remembered some fun times he'd had in the state several years ago. Of long strolls on the streets of Panaji with his wife, and a drink of local feni at a wayside tavern. Too bad he doesn't have the freedom do it anymore!