A whiff of the Ana factor in the air : Race to the CLP chief post
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 01, 2012 -

O Ibobi and Y Erabot- Pix :: TSE

It is apparent that to the State Congress, the greatest challenge before it is not going to be the election per se but the projected race to the chair of the Chief Minister.

This presupposes one thing-the Congress is going to lead/head the next Government and taking this line may amount to something more substantial than merely gazing at the crystal ball.

It is then logical that the questions that follow would be, 'Is Y Erabot merely going to be a pretender to the throne or is he a serious contender for the post of Chief Minister ?

Is it going to be a case of media hype or is the AICC leadership seriously looking for an alternative to O Ibobi ? Is it going to be just a two way race between Y Erabot and O Ibobi or will the Gaikhangam factor weigh in ?

' With yet another round of repoll already announced, officially, these questions may sound a bit premature, but recent developments necessitate these posers.

Stating that a change in leadership in the Congress Legislature Party is in line may amount to jumping the gun at the moment, but the emerging developments in the last few days do tell a significant tale that the AICC may just be looking for an alternative, which may be subscribed to the 'Ana Factor.'

The greatest Generals and battle strategists have demonstrated down the years that the best option to neutralise an onslaught is to blunt the attack and it may have dawned on the minds of the AICC leadership that the best option/method to take the teeth out of the Lokpal onslaught launched by Team Ana under Hazare would be to go in for an internal rejig, a self cleansing process and with the Lok Sabha election scheduled in 2014, the Congress cannot afford to go into the electoral battle without a bout of thorough self cleansing exercise.

This is where the significance of Y Erabot emerges, a man seen and widely regarded as a no-nonsense political leader, without a taint on his personal integrity. A sort of a square peg in a round hole, Y Erabot escapes the typical definition of the political class in Manipur and perhaps this could be what the AICC is looking for.

However this alone cannot be the sole decisive factor for power politics is all about the inter-play of various factors such as how many MLAs one can command, not to speak about the ability of the projected man to reach out to other political parties.

This is all that more important now considering the widely held belief that the Congress will not be able to repeat its 2007 election feat. How well Erabot is placed or positioned to win over the MLAs of other political parties, now that the CPI has announced its decision to part ways with the Congress from the SPF, will be another important question.

This is not in any way to discount the standing of the present Chief Minister. O Ibobi took over as the Chief Minister after the 2002 Assembly election and when Manipur had just emerged from the anti-cease fire uprising and the endless rounds of musical chairs played by the elected people's representatives.

Call it providence or good fortune or whatever, but O Ibobi went on to become the first man in the post Statehood history of the land to complete a full term in office as the Chief Minister, thereby giving the people a dose of what stability meant.

This was followed by the never before seen performance of the Congress when it managed to walk away with half the seats in the 60 member Assembly in the 2007 election. A massive people's mandate it was.

The AICC will certainly not be in a hurry to forget this and in the long 10 years that he has been in office as the Chief Minister, the original man from Khangabok AC may have managed to cultivate friends in the right places within the AICC. It is another matter that O Ibobi failed to give an insightful significance to the term stability.

The 121 days economic blockade of 2011 is but one example. It is early days yet, but the race for the post of the leader of the State Congress Legislature Party is something which cannot be ignored that easily.

It may or may not be customary for the AICC, but the fine line that can be read in the reported act of AICC chief and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in asking for the bio-data of Y Erabot is significant.

On the other hand, as we have noted above, the Gaikhangam factor is again something which cannot be overlooked that easily. Here is a man who plays his cards close to his chest and the last word on the question of who is most likely to be the next CLP leader is yet to be said.