Rolling out the red carpet for Rahul : Window dressing for another visit
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 10, 2012 -

Gandhi scion. Prime Minister in the waiting.

General secretary of the All India Congress Committee and in a country which has given a distinct flavour to the definition of hereditary politics, the preparations underway to roll out the red carpet for Rahul Gandhi for his scheduled two hour visit to Imphal should not come as a surprise.

The days of taking any visit to the North East States by Delhi mandarins as a foreign sojourn may now be history.

The practise of verbally connecting the State capitals of the North East region with rail heads may no longer be the standard line.

Foundation stone laying spree may not necessarily be on the menu of any visit by the political heavy weights from Delhi to the region now. However there is as yet nothing concrete to suggest that visits by political dignitaries from Delhi have changed the situation at the grass root level.

This observation may best be exemplified by the visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the winter of 2004, wherein the Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission was instituted to review the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Twelve years down the line and Sharmila is still on her fast demanding the repeal of the said Act.

December 3, 2011 was the date when Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and chairperson of the UPA Government Sonia Gandhi, the two most influential personalities in the country, went on an inauguration spree, inaugurating the Capitol Complex, the ISBT, the City Convention Centre and the Manipur Film Development Corporation auditorium.

Fast forward one year and the meaning of inauguration has been twisted and given a distinct State Congress Government taste. It is only fitting then that the scheduled whistle stop visit of Rahul Gandhi is viewed against this backdrop.

In line with earlier such visits, window dressing exercise has been taken up with great fervour in Imphal. This is perfectly okay, but the hint of the stench emanating from the process of awarding the contract work for the window dressing exercise is suffocating.

Convention on Local Bodies and Elected Members on Local Self Governance and UPA's 16 Point Flagship Programmes are the main menu in the visit of Rahul Gandhi.

Not bad and perfectly in line with what the Congress led UPA Government has been pursuing and trumpeting all these years.

But herein lies the perfect example of a typical mindset of the political leaders of the place. A case of a square peg in a round hole.

A general secretary of a political party, never mind if the party is in power, addressing flagship programmes and local governance and the farce of the window dressing exercise cannot get clearer.

Those elected to the local bodies are not elected along party lines. Flagship programmes should be addressed by the Ministers concerned and not a ‘King in waiting’.

Does the Congress Government here think that the people are fools ? A clear case of how hereditary politics has been taken to ridiculous heights by the Congress party.

The politics of chamchagiri and identifying everything with a particular surname cannot be about governance. Power worshippers have never been known to exercise power judiciously and on behalf of the people.

What should be an affair of a political party is being readied to be transformed into a State occasion and this is not only farcical but also insulting to the intellect of everyone. The farce should stop.

We certainly will not fall in line with this mentality.