Taking a gamble in being candid : 10 years in office and nothing to show
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 31, 2014 -

Dr T Meinya filing Nomination papers to Returning Officer of Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency at DC, Imphal West on 24 March 2014 :: Pix - Shankar Kh

The first part is a gamble, albeit a carefully thought out gamble.

The second part is not a gamble, for he has nothing to lose. In admitting that he has not been able to do anything of much substance in the last ten years in Parliament, Dr T Meinya of the Congress took a gamble.

A candid admission that he has failed to deliver on many fronts.

Something which not many politicians would be ready to admit and in openly stating that he has not been able to do much in the last ten years, Dr T Meinya is banking on earning the trust and confidence of the voters for his candidness.

A bold and frank statement, but a cleverly tinged political statement.

The second part, that is the promises that he would make up for the failures of the past is nothing new.

This is what every political parties and politicians do for promises cost nothing.

In being candid, Dr T Meinya also sent out the message that he has nothing to talk about by way of achievements during the last ten years and this has all the potential to take the sheen off his candid admission.

How the electorate or the voters take it will be known only when D day comes but in one candid admission, the Congress candidate may be said to have taken the sting out of the barrage of criticisms that are bound to come his way, when the election tempo picks up speed and no words are spared to run down the rivals.

A sad reflection of the reality here that a candidate is banking on being candid about his failures rather than talking about what he has done in the last one decade and mind you ten years is a long time.

A five year old child, when Dr T Meinya was first elected to Parliament, would today have appeared for his or Class X Board exams !

The other candidates do not have the burden of explaining what they have done in the past, but as things have unfolded they have not fallen short on promises.

This is how the great Indian democracy works and since promises cost nothing, there are promises galore in the election manifestoes of all the political parties, only to be reduced to a footnote after the election.

All the more reason for the voters, particularly the young people to strictly and minutely study the antecedents and personal integrity as well as competency of the man or woman they are going to vote for.

In the hills, the battle line seems to have been drawn up, if the recent verbal exchanges between the Congress and the NPF is anything to go by.

The NPF may like to say that the party is not only a Naga party but a party of the North East region.

This is certainly interesting and as noted before in this column, it should be more than obvious that this pronouncement was delivered on the premise that Mr Nephiu Rio is not only the leader of the NPF but also the convenor of the North East Regional Parties Forum, a body made up of ten regional political parties from the North East region.

However the reality says something else and it was not surprising to see Chief Minister Mr O Ibobi pounce on the words of Mr Rio and say that an ethnic based political party is undesirable not only in India but also in the North East which is home to a number of communities. For all his shortcomings, Mr Ibobi does have a point here.

Moreover it should also be understood that not all is fine within the Naga community, vis-a-vis the NPF.

A few days back, The Sangai Express carried an interesting article written by a well known personality, Dr Nelson Vashum, who pulled no punches in questioning the wisdom of the NPF in naming Soso Lorho as its candidate.

To back up his argument, the good doctor gave a detailed account of Operation Bluebird at Oinam village in Senapati district in 1987.

This is about the Congress and the NPF in the Outer Parliamentary Constituency.

The others are yet to confront each other directly, with the BJP concentrating on what it intends to do for the people if voted to power, without going for the jugular against the other parties.

The TMC, on the other hand has been firing pot shots at the Congress but so far the Congress has not retaliated.

Interesting days are ahead and to come back to the opening paragraph of this commentary, Dr T Meinya has sort of pulled off a surprise, admitting that he has not been able to do much in the last ten years but nonetheless promising to rectify the past failures.

A reminder may in place here. Promises come for free and whenever promises are made, it needs to be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt.