Defeating the spirit of 2003 legislation : Wrong priorities
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 01 2017 -

Defeating the spirit of the stringent anti-defection Bill passed by Parliament during the time of NDA-1 under Atal Behari Vajpayee in 2003.

It was with a purpose that the then BJP led NDA Government decided to amend the then existing anti-defection Bill passed in 1985 during the regime of the late Rajiv Gandhi, and make it more stringent by making it mandatory for 2/3rd of the party’s strength to switch side, making it practically impossible for any elected member to switch side.

Ironic it is that it is now a BJP led Government here in Manipur which is intent on defeating the spirit of the Bill passed in 2003 and later enacted, if the manner in which the red carpet was rolled out for the six Congress MLAs and one AITC MLA is taken into consideration.

As stated in an earlier commentary, the latest move may be seen as the de riguer of the present political exigencies and may fall in line with the BJP’s slogan of Congress mukt, but yet there should still be something called ethical politics.

Engineering defections does not exactly fall in the category of ethical politics and the manner in which the spirit in which the 2003 anti-defection Act has been hit for a huge six will surely leave a bad taste in the mouth of all political observers.

The Sangai Express has already had its say on the conduct of the MLAs who have switched sides to the BJP, but to the BJP it should be clear that obliterating the Congress cannot be equated with good governance.

What Manipur needs today is good and effective governance. Once the BJP led Government achieves this, then the other political parties, particularly the Congress, will die a natural death.

Positive offensives, this is what the people would like to see. There is nothing positive in what has so far been seen for it is enveloped by negative political engineerings and politicking.

It would be so much better for the BJP to focus its attention on the pre-poll promises and assurances given to the people.

Time for the Government to see how it can make pipe water a reality for all the households in the State.

What about education ? Has any thought been given to this aspect ?

It is true that the BJP led Government is reaching out to the hills, but there still remains so much to be done and one wish that the time and energy is focused on how to make things better for Manipur and her people.

Moreover at what stage is the inquiry initiated to investigate the process of acquiring the CCTV cameras and traffic lights that went kaput from the day they were installed ?

How about the corruption charges that were levelled against the Congress Government or rather against former Chief Minister O Ibobi ?

These are the areas in which the BJP led Government should be focusing its attention on, for ultimately their best weapon or approach against the other political parties will be their ability to deliver the goods to the people.

Let performance speak. This will be a much more positive approach than weaning away MLAs from other political parties, particularly the Congress.