MSCP in outside support mode : Profiling the 'B Team'
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 05, 2012 -

The 'decision' of the Manipur State Congress Party to extend outside support to the Congress Government should not come as a surprise, though it should shock the sensibilities of any one with a modicum of conscience or character.

Outside support or coalition Government is a term that has gained currency in the face of fractured verdicts given by the people, wherein no single political party is in a position to form the Government on its own.

This is when like minded political parties, a term conveniently coined for reasons that should be obvious to all, come together to form a Government or a political party or two decide/s to lend support from outside, that is without being a party to the Government.

More often than not, outside support to a Government usually comes within the political understanding of keeping at bay another political party from forming the Government.

And so it was that the Left extended outside support to the Congress in the first edition of the UPA Government at Delhi, just so that it could keep the BJP led NDA coalition from coming to power.

The decision to extend outside support was then ideologically driven and the fact that the Left ultimately withdrew their support in the wake of the nuke deal with the US in the latter part of the UPA's first stint is a different matter.

Switch the scene from Delhi to Imphal and the 'outside support' idea of the MSCP is nothing but a reflection of the political culture that has taken deep roots down the decades.

That no lesson has been learnt from the last ten years of the Congress led SPF Government is amply clear. With 42 MLAs in the Assembly, the Congress does not need any outside support.

The idea of Parliamentary democracy revolves not only around the rule by the majority but also the presence of an Opposition which should be the watchdog over the functioning of the Government.

Nothing can be more farcical and down right insulting to the very understanding of the august House than to harbour the idea that development works can be taken up at their respective constituencies if they have a friendly relation with the party in power and this is exactly what the MSCP has demonstrated.

With five MLAs in its kitty, Karam Thamarjit from Keirao AC, RK Imo from Sagolband AC, Paonam Brojen from Wangjing Tentha AC, Nemcha Kipgen from Kangpokpi AC and Janghenlung Panmei from Tamenglong AC, the MSCP is the third largest party in the Assembly after the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, which has seven MLAs. With the lone LJP MLA already deciding to be with the Government, this means that the Opposition strength in the House of 60 would come down to 12, if the MSCP actually goes ahead with its plans.

Numbers do count, there is no doubt about it, but the meaning of a strong Opposition does not necessarily rest solely on numbers. Stretch this observation a little wider and it becomes clear that the MSCP will have little to offer to the people inside the Assembly, whether they sit on the Opposition or extend outside support to the Congress.

Manipur has just stepped into the 10th Assembly and it should be clear to all that the MSCP has already abdicated its duties to the people as a political party which participated in the electoral politics of the State.

If at all the MSCP as a political party is committed to the betterment of the people and the State as a whole, it should have decided to act as a responsible Opposition instead of trying to justify their 'outside support' farce of an idea with 'developing the constituencies of their respective MLAs, by having a good relation with the party in power.'

This reeks of the dependency mentality or is it a case of the MSCP determined to prove the 'B Team' identity which has been whispered audibly in the political corridors for quite some time now ?