The History of its Birth 

It all started with the advertisement appearing on the 1^st. January, 2000 edition of the Navhind Times, Herald & Gomantak Times, captioned "Dear Goans", and, subsequently after the publication of the 'GOOD GOVERNANCE' series by Navhind Times written by Rajesh Singh, the former assistant editor of Navhind Times and now a freelance reporter. These series included interviews of present and past political leaders, ex-bureaucrats, professors, industrialists, including retired army General S.F. Rodrigues. A lot was said, a lot of problems were exposed, and a lot of solutions were given. And it seemed that everything would take care of itself in due course of time. The question remained to be answered though, was , WHEN? 

Having avidly followed these series, I took the initiative to telephone Gen. Rodrigues the very day his interview appeared on the papers. One thing led to another and it resulted in setting-up of a meeting of a dozen or more prominent people at the International Centre, Donapaula, courtesy of the General. The names of some of the invitees were suggested by the good General himself, and the others where those that I had in mind. Practically all the persons , excluding the politicians of course, who featured in the interviews were invited for this meet, and some of them did really attend, including Rajesh Singh himself. The meeting was planned as a simple brain-storming session, where each person freely expressed his views on the current state of affairs in Goa, specially, the political instability. While some argued in favour of establishing a super pressure groups to act as a reining check on the government, others challenged the sustainability of such groups in view of total power being concentrated in the hands of the government that is mostly disinclined towards the welfare of the people and the State. The argument was that the Pressure Groups or NGO's do a lot of good, but the appreciation for which does not automatically follow from the public at large, because at the time of elections, these pressure groups or NGO's do not figure on the ballots. The same politicians are elected over and over again. Furthermore, it was pointed out that a big line of new politicians in the making at the panchayat and municipalities level, who were even more corrupt than the politicians themselves, were making a bee line for the Seats of Power. It was decided to hold such brain-storming sessions in the future to include more people, and , that was the beginning.  

The initiative did continue, however, with fewer and fewer persons who had attended the first brain storming session, but with more and more new persons who were willing to test the grounds. A series of 'OPEN FORUM' meetings were organized at Satya Heera Conference hall, Mapusa and at Caritas Conference hall, St. Inez, Panjim. The outcome of the meeting at the Caritas hall on the 26^th. February, 2000 was a definite 'Yes' to the formation of a new political front in Goa to challenge the old guard. The participation in this meeting was the largest which was 26 delegates from all over Goa. Subsequently, in the later meetings, the constitution of the Proposed Party was drafted and redrafted till its adoption in the existing form. By this time more and more delegates seemed to be dropping out due to personal compulsions until the numbers stabilized at sixteen. These sixteen members are listed today as the founder members of the Party, one being kept off the list as this member is in the process of transferring the electoral registration to Goa from Daman. However, most of the others who attended the 26^th. Feb.,.2000 meet have pledged their full support for the Party. 

A lot of discussions and debates have taken place within the group and all steps taken which include the choosing of the name and the Party Emblem etc. have been executed in the utmost democratic manner by executing 1^st. and 2^nd. ballots in each case. And this procedure of democratic decision making has become the main-stay of this Party. The Party was declared open at the 1^st. meeting of the Party Supreme Executive held at 3^rd. floor Patto Centre, Panjim on 22^nd. May, 2000. In accordance with the directives of the Election Commission of India, which requires forwarding of the registration papers of the newly formed political party to the Election Commission, New Delhi within 30 days of its formation, the registration papers have been dispatched to New Delhi on the 15^th. June, 2000 and received at the Election Commission, New Delhi on 19^th June, 2000. The party is awaiting further communication from New Delhi. 

As mentioned earlier, the Party has made its stand very clear "that there will be no past or current politicians included in the Party. Goa Su-Raj Party has started with a clean slate. It intends to write on this immaculate, brand new slate, its own writing that will make all the difference in GOA's future politics. The Party's aims & objectives as listed in the Constitution may seem simple and even indaquate at a first glance, but on closer examination, it will be seen to cover each and every aspect of Goa's future model of governance.