Getting down to the business of governance : Acid test for the State Government
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 02, 2014 -

Unseasy lies the head that wears the crown and Mr Okram Ibobi must surely be feeling the heat, in his third term as the Chief Minister of Manipur.

Difficult to say where the fault lies, but in many ways it has got more to do with inept handling of issues and things by the Government and its agencies than anything to do with what was extraordinary or something beyond the reach of the Government and its agencies.

It is amazing to see how the State Government has succeeded or managed to leap frog from one crisis to the other, as if this is the calling of the Government.

On the other hand it has to be admitted that Manipur has proved to be a hard place to govern and let the rule of law take its own course.

In between these two extremes lie the tale of a Government which has utterly failed to look or understand the pulse of the people.

Indifference could be one reason or maybe it is more a case of being incompetent.

Whatever the real reason may be, Manipur cannot afford to have an inefficient Government or political leadership.

Some time back amid the all round tension and violence came the news that some Congress MLAs have given the ultimatum that they be inducted into the Council of Ministers by dropping at least ten out of the twelve from the Council of Ministers.

The Congress MLAs aimed their guns at all the Ministers, including the chair of the Speaker, leaving out the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister.

If the grapevine is to be believed the Congress MLAs went a step further and a meeting ostensibly convened by the Chief Minister ended in some sort of a fiasco with the Chief Minister refusing or dodging a direct commitment to the demand raised by the Congress MLAs.

Art of governance or mastering the art of keeping his flock together without antagonising anyone, especially from within the Congress party. This is mastering the art of political survival.

This is but one example of how the Chief Minister has been able to beat or get the better of any voice of 'revolt' from within the Congress party.

This however does not necessarily mean that the Chief Minister has been able to demonstrate this art of political survival when it comes to the business of administering the State where there are different competing forces at work.

It still remains something of a mystery why a Chief Minister who has not hesitated to crack the whip on the people had to go so easy when some of his MLAs went to the extent of coming out with such an outlandish demand, though it fell short of announcing that the MLAs would soon launch a non-co-operation movement against the first among equals in the Government.

Some questions are in line here. If the MLAs deemed it fit to announce that 10 of the Ministers should be dropped, then what guarantee is there that they would make up if and when they are inducted into the Council of Ministers ?

Is the demand made or raised out of personal interest or driven by the genuine desire to do something concrete for the State ?

If the latter is the case, then there is so much that they can do by being an elected representative of the State.

Just some examples that come to mind but come to think over it seriously and it would not take a political genius to guess why Manipur has been plunging from one crisis to the other.

Power for power's sake is anathema to the idea of a progressive society.