Thumb rule for political survival ! Namaste Delhi !
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 09, 2011 -

The thumb rule for political survival in Manipur sounds simple and absurd. To the rest of the world, which believes in the principle of power and authority flowing from the stamp of approval of the general public, it may sound farcical but this is the interesting point.

The mantra to score high in the high stake political game here has got nothing to do with understanding the pulse of the public but mastering the art of pleasing New Delhi.

Mr Okram Ibobi is on his way to completing a second successive term in office as the Chief Minister and if everything goes as indicated, he could well end up as the Chief Minister after the next Assembly election, for which the State is likely to go to polls sometime in February next year and he has demonstrated aptly what it takes to be successful.

In other words, Mr Ibobi has perfected the art of knowing where to scratch New Delhi on the back and it has paid handsome dividends. Not only has Mr Ibobi managed to drive through the turbulence created by the July 23, 2009 BT Road incident but it is more than evident that each crisis has only helped to cement his place in the chair of the Chief Minister.

To be fair to Mr Ibobi, he is not the man who scripted this culture for others before him have more than demonstrated the usefulness of cosying up to Delhi, the only big difference being he has done it better than any of his predecessors.

In 2004, it was the Manorama episode, and though the ire of the people was directed towards the Central security forces and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the pressure on his Government was nevertheless palpable.

Call it political intuitiveness or good fortune smiling down on him, Mr Ibobi managed to do something which none of his predecessors, including those from the fire spitting MPP, could do and that is lift the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the seven Assembly segments falling within the Imphal Municipal Council.

How he managed to do it can only be understood through the excellent rapport he shares with the people who matter in Delhi and not how he has won the trust and confidence of the people.

The divine hand at play was certainly there when the then BJP led NDA Government passed the stringent anti-defection Bill in Parliament, just when the internal dissent against his leadership had reached its peak. But this is the exception to the trend and from winning over the political leadership in Delhi, Mr Ibobi appears to have won over the officialdom too, if the good report coming from the DoNER Secretary is anything to go by.

In one sentence, the Secretary of DoNER, Jayanti Chandra, has absolved any shortcomings of the SPF Government under Ibobi. The long pending projects taken up under the present dispensation have suddenly transformed into something which have kept their date with the deadlines.

The extremely long time it took to complete the BT Flyover was conveniently swept under the carpet and nothing was said about the Imphal Sewerage Project which has been in its cons- truction stage for the last many, many years.

The Sewerage Project may not come under funding from the SPA and NLCPR, but this is besides the point for what we are talking about here is in reference to the certificate of good work given to the SPF Government by the DoNER Secretary.

If this is the parameter for success set up by the political leaders, then the public too seem to have come under the illusion that only a party, which has a good working relation with the party in power in Delhi can deliver the goods.

Such a culture may be partly responsible for the gradual decline of regional parties like the MPP, though this cannot be the only reason. Square peg in a round hole is a description fit for Manipur, for it has run contrary to many of the universally held beliefs and understanding and it is only fitting that it should be the place to give an entirely new understanding of democracy to the world, where the need is not to feel the pulse of the people, but to know which master to serve.

The Delhi culture runs deep and while this culture may be associated with political parties like the Congress and the BJP and even the Left parties (Remember the historical blunder when the late Jyoti Basu was made to turn down the offer of the Prime Ministership), the obsession with the high command in Manipur stands out more prominently.

In such a situation, the unpleasant question of whether the fate of Manipur should be decided by Delhi arises. Political leaders do not live in a vacuum and the more the Ibobis depend on Delhi for their survival, the more Manipur will have to lean on Delhi for its progress and development.

Governance has thus come to mean knowing where to scratch Delhi on its back, and not understanding the pulse of the people. To the public too, the worth of a Chief Minister or a political leader is determined by his or her closeness to Delhi and not by how closely he or she walks with the people.

This runs contrary to the basic principles of democracy but who cares as long as the moolah comes flowing in, is how the political argument runs. With scruples and principles sacrificed at the altar of 'practical politics', it does not matter whether one acts as a vassal of Delhi or an independent leader, who has his finger on the pulse of the people, as long as one can stick to power.