Size Matters: Why Tiny Goa Needs To Be Heard More Often

Just before 10 am on May 30 last year, my phone was set abuzz with mess­ages about an extraordinary “Sta­t­e­ment to the People of Goa” that had just been posted on Twitter by Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, the brand-new finance minister of Tamil Nadu. Switching screens to look, I fou­nd myself stunned, then chortling aloud with surprise and amusement. I’d never read anyth­ing like it before. Many others went on to agree. A few days later, no less than Shashi Tharoor twe­eted, “I’m delighted to say that in the annals of contemporary Indian political invective, this statement by @ptrmadurai has not been bettered.”

PTR—as he is often referred to by the public—posted his message two days after attending his first-ever meeting of the GST Council. Soon after the gathering, Goa’s notably hapless transport minister Mauvin Godinho—who represen­ted India’s smallest state—tried to grandstand and rally support for himself by alleging he was insulted by his counterpart: “Thiaga Rajan’s case is that since he comes from a big state, he should have a bigger vote. It’s like saying, I am the big brother, you shut up. I take strong offe­nce to the way he conducted himself and expr­e­ssed himself in the GST Council. I want [Tamil Nadu chief minister] Stalin to condemn his minister, and make him apologise.”