Nilkanth vs Bakshi: Much ado about nothing
This isn’t a story that would have made it to this newsletter considering how insignificant such an encounter would have usually been. Picture this, a car encounters another on a narrow single lane road with no space to pass. Neither decides to yield, leading to arguments between the two drivers. So common and parodied such an encounter is, that even movies have been made about it (one of the advantages of attending IFFI religiously every year is that I can drop such references every now and then).
Nonetheless considering the people involved, the sentiments involved and what’s happening in Goa at large it ceased to be a simple case of two ego laden drivers each insisting that the other should yield, but turned into a microcosm of what’s happening in Goa at the moment. Besides, since it happened in Revora I couldn’t resist offering my two bits. So let me break down what happened for you, after having spent some time studying who arrived where, from which direction, and at what time leading to the confrontation.
But first a couple of disclaimers: I wasn’t present at the scene to witness what actually happened and as such am not a first hand witness and secondly I am acquainted with both Bakshi and Halarnkar but don’t expect that will change how I interpret what happened. With that out of the way, let’s dive straight in.
The setting
The incident took place outside the Revora panchayat which lies just off an interior road in the village. From this interior village road (which is itself a single lane road), is another even narrower road that runs past the panchayat office. This road, which was once only a dirt road, leads only to a couple of houses followed by a dead end, and as such is not a very frequented road. There isn’t much outside the panchayat office either, the area being surrounded by houses, trees and the like.
It is right upon this second road that the driver of Goa Minister for Fisheries (among other departments) parked his official vehicle, as he is wont to do, when the minister visits the panchayat as he did in this case for a function to distribute saplings.
The incident
By the time Gaurav Bakshi arrived on the scene to submit an application for a construction licence, which was a little after 4pm, Nilkanth and his staff were already at the panchayat office and the function was underway.
Seeing a large SUV parked directly on the road and with no way past to the parking beyond, and, by his admission, not knowing whose car it was, he asked him to move. The minister’s driver refused -- something that is unfortunately not uncommon -- and only returned the request with attitude.
While the minister Nilkanth is admittedly, a mild mannered and temperate guy, the same cannot be said of his staff. It soon became an argument between not just the driver and Bakshi, but also the minister’s personal security officer (PSO). Once the function finished and it was time to leave, the minister exited the panchayat, instructed his staff that they were pushing off and they all left the scene.
Who is Gaurav Bakshi?
According to his own description Bakshi is a former NRI, who returned to India from the US and Europe in 2010 and realising “how widespread and deep-rooted corruption was in all layers of society” began campaigning against it including during the Anna Hazare Anti Corruption Movement in 2014.
Since then he has moved to Goa and runs a website helpdesq.in offering services in registrations, compliances, tax filings among others, engaging with the government, services on debt recovery, property verification, registration for a whole host of clients promising a “single window, corruption free clearance for everything governance.”
It is this that brought him to the Revora panchayat to file an application for a construction licence for a villa on behalf of another person, possibly a client. To that extent, Bakshi can be described as an agent based on the nature of the work he does, and as such is no stranger to dealing with the government.
He is also an activist and was responsible for filing a petition challenging the arbitrary conversion of zones in Goa and secured a stay against the conversion of a 6,000 square metre plot in Cujira that was being converted from paddy field to settlement under section 17(2). He is also known for being an actor having acted and directed films, including web series and the like.
Why did this blow up?
Trouble first began when it was reported in the media that Halarnkar had his car blocked by a Delhi based real estate agent, who also abused and began filming the minister.
Word soon spread within the constituency that the local MLA and minister was abused by “Delhi real estate agent.”
It touched a raw nerve in Goa where locals are feeling increasingly disenfranchised by the huge number of high end constructions sprouting up even in interior villages of Goa - a phenomenon that has accelerated to unprecedented levels after the pandemic and especially since the BJP government returned to power in 2022 and Vishwajit Rane was made Town and Country Planning Minister.
Hundreds of Halarnkar’s supporters soon gathered at the Colvale Police Station vowing to avenge the insult to the local MLA and the hands of the man from Delhi. The following day the Chief Minister said that Bakshi would be arrested and sure enough Bakshi was -- not even an attempt was made to pretend that the Police are independent of the political executive.
Insider vs Outsider
Would it have turned to this if Bakshi was not an ‘outsider’. Most likely yes. It wouldn’t degenerate into an “outsider vs Goan” issue. But the reason why that impression struck is because it is true. And the pushback from the locals is coming. Perhaps the government of the day will take heed and rein its its ministers who are laying the red carpet for the real “outsiders calling the shots” instead of lynching a scapegoat.
Bakshi has since been released on bail -- but what was an encounter between two cars on a narrow street should never have resulted in his arrest in the first place. I have no hesitation in saying that this was nothing but high handed abuse of power by the staff of Nilkanth Halarnkar.
No one, should face arrest for just questioning a staff of a minister, no matter the circumstances. It is precisely for this reason that red beacons were removed from official vehicles. Turns out the beacons are long gone, but the hot heads sitting inside, have not.