A requiem to W Nipamacha : Blend of honesty and rustic charm
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 18, 2012 -

Wahengbam Nipamacha

A maverick Chief Minister, a man who pulled no punches while speaking his mind out. A man generally perceived as honest, a rare facet which not many in today’s set up seem to possess.

Wahengbam Nipamacha was this and more. Political astuteness and statesmanship do not exactly fit into his persona but it obviously needed something more than the mundane and the ordinary to emerge as the rallying point against the leadership of the redoubtable Rishang Keishing and script the vertical split of the Congress and oversee the formation of the Manipur State Congress Party in the winter of 1997.

Financial crisis, RBI ban, overdraft, unpaid salaries of Government employees etc entered the lexicon of the general public during his tenure as the Chief Minister from December 16, 1997 till February 14, 2001 but still it is with a sense of fondness that people continue to remember him and the days of his Chief Ministership.

A quality which cannot be stage managed and not which everyone can hope to pull off. He was not media savvy and even went to the extent of famously asserting that he never reads the newspapers, but to this day his run in with the media, and there were more than one occasion, continue to be recalled endearingly sans any sense of ill will or misgiving.

Yet another manifestation of a quality which not everyone can possess. From the fag end of 1997 till the early days of 2001, the troika of Nipamacha, Dr L Chandramani and Th Chaoba held sway over the political affairs of the State, sweeping aside all challenges.

Riding on the emerging wave of the MSCP, its candidate Th Chaoba made his way to Parliament from Inner Manipur besting the Congress candidate Dr Nimaichand Luwang and MPP's O Joy Singh.

This was the time of the BJP led NDA Government at Delhi and Chaoba was even inducted into the Union Council of Ministers as a Minister of State.

In underlining that he was not just another pretender to the throne, Nipamacha along with Dr L Chandramani and Th Chaoba also oversaw the financial mess of the State and the people.

Files did not move. All developmental works came to a grinding halt and salary release of Government employees were front page material of the State newspapers.

Yet despite this, Nipamacha continuously managed to ring out the signal that he was a man who would not be pushed around by Delhi and this is largely what people saw in the man who represented Wangoi Assembly Constituency five times.

A telling tale of a man who managed to emerge unscatched from the ‘misadventure’ with the 5th Pay Commission and herein lies another interesting facet of the man, fondly called Wangoi Ahal (Elder citizen of Wangoi) by his young supporters.

The successful hosting of the 5th National Games, the erection of the Integrity Pillar at BT Park, the inauguration of Tikendrajit House at Delhi etc were some landmarks achieved during his tenure as the Chief Minister but ironically Nipamacha is today remembered more for his off the cuff remarks and for his rustic charm.

The repartees that he exchanged with the veteran Rishang Keishing on the floor of the Assembly are stuff that gives a feel good factor to the proceedings of the House and makes one recollect the sessions of the days gone by wistfully.

Maybe he would not have fit n with today’s political culture where arrogance and political vendetta have become the defining line.

May his soul rest in peace.