By Patricia Mukhim
Normally the real election jamboree starts about three months before the D-day. This time sitting MLAs and aspirants to a space in the Assembly have begun their toiling a year ahead. Some of course have just announced their intentions. They are late comers to the scene; mostly government employees who feel it is better jump ahead of the queue than wait in the line for promotion. I have never been able to understand how a bureaucrat who has failed to deliver in 25-30 years of service could aspire to turn politician and promise to outdo what he/she did in his/her former avatar. But we the voters are suckers; more so our rural brethren who perhaps have not been conditioned to think through issues and make informed choices.
This time it seems we also have serious contenders to the chief minister’s post. There is Conrad Sangma of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The NCP has been threatening that they would form the next government in Meghalaya. A repeat of the Meghalaya Parliamentary Alliance (MPA) of 2008, perhaps? Then we have Dr Donkupar Roy of the UDP, (that is if Paul Lyngdoh the Working President decides to forego his ambition for the greater good of the party he has vowed to revive). The HSPDP appears to have been reduced to a one-Superman (or is it Spiderman or Batman) army, unless Dr Fenella Nonglait gets elected. But even then there might be just two people in the HSPDP. Not a happy prospect. I am wondering why an intelligent legal eagle like Fenella is caught in a party whose expiry date is long past and which is a single district party. Anyway to each his own!
Then comes the leviathan called the Congress. The present chief minister Dr Mukul Sangma has incredible stamina. He can argue out anyone in a debate. The manner in which this tribal chief pushed his views through in the Planning Commission recently, left even the former World Bank honcho, Montek Singh Ahluwalia with the strong British accent (who often forgets he lives in a poor country) totally flabbergasted! The doctor got Rs 480 crore more than he asked for. It remains to be seen though how the money (Rs 3939 crore) is finally expended. If the bureaucrats do not get off their haunches, leave their comfort zones and get out there where things matter, the money will find its way to somebody’s bank account. And that’s going to be a bad thing for Dr Sangma and for his team. Actually you only need to have a few cynical, pessimistic, lethargic and pompous bureaucrats to ensure that politicians slip and slide on the banana peel of non-performance and like humpty dumpty, land on their backs. Sometimes politicians need to crack the whip on bureaucrats.
But the reverse is also true. A few bureaucrats have complained that their files are lying on the CM’s table for weeks together. It’s possible that the Chief has been travelling far too much reaching out to people across the state and with frequent visits to Delhi. Both are important but so too is file clearing. However the CM has his own take on this. Often the files do not need to come up to him for second clearance since the babus have only to follow standard operating procedures and laid down rules in implementing many projects. Can’t these differences be resolved across the table?
But let me foray into the future, after the post election scene unfolds itself. My reading is that the Congress will still come out as the single largest party. And I am no Congress fan, mind you. But some facts are just so stark you cannot ignore them. So if the Congress returns it will need the UDP. And I am sure the UDP despite is pre-election bravado of “We will go it alone this time,” and “The Congress has failed to solve the border dispute, we could have done it with the flick of our fingers,” and all that sort of political blah..blah…blah will ultimately allow itself to be wooed yet again. The Congress too is going around with the audacious slogan of getting a majority on its own. We know such claims are based on the audacity of hope. We have heard this claim thirty years ago and it’s just that – a tall claim.
So if the Congress is the single largest party (and I say this because the party has a dedicated vote bank across the State; it’s not a district or region-centric party) then can we safely say that the party has one clear leader in Dr Mukul Sangma? But are we sure that he will be re-elected from Ampati? One presumes that having raised Ampati to a district people will reward him appropriately. However, public opinion is extremely fickle. Remember how DD Lapang lost the election immediately after he had declared Ri Bhoi a district? Be that as it may I have a strong hunch that Dr Mukul will return. There are many schemes that he has articulated for livelihoods creation. They have just been launched. Though some are sceptical if the schemes would work (especially the aquaculture mission since most of our water bodies are poisoned) and many have termed them as old wine in new bottles (and I suspect that the critics are mainly government officials who have a jaundiced view about everything), the fact is that under Dr Sangma Meghalaya has been pro-active in initiating a scheme that is locally appropriate instead of waiting for centrally sponsored projects only.
The NCP’s election plank has been that Congress has several wannabe CMs. There is the legendary DD Lapang; there is Dr RC Laloo. And there is Charles Pyngrope. But hang on; there is also our MP and minister of state for water resources, Vincent Pala who seems to nurture aspirations to come to state politics but only for the top post. I am not sure if there are any more aspirants. Of all the CM wannabes, however, many would still bet their last penny on Mukul Sangma. Whether we agree with his methods or we don’t, we have to admit that he is a bright spark with very admirable leadership qualities. He can hold forth on a range of issues. He reads up and informs himself and does not mutter inanities at meetings and functions. And hopefully in the next five years from 2013 onwards he will come up with policies for every important sector of governance.
Dr Sangma will however have to answer to the people on a few key issues. First is the Mining Policy. Why is the policy repeatedly shelved? Second, the Social Audit Bill which he was very enthusiastic about initially is still hanging fire. Third, he has not been able to take on some of the challenges that have hindered governance in Meghalaya. I will give a few examples. The Deputy Commissioner Jaintia Hills refuses to be transferred. SS Sun the PHE Chief Engineer is a law unto himself. He has treated the PHE Department as his personal property. Revenue leakage from coal trade remains unplugged. Environmental depredation has not received due attention of the Government. Law and order in Garo Hills too does not inspire confidence. This tells us that the Chief Minister is not on top of things. It is not a good indicator.
In the next few months that he is in the hot seat, Dr Sangma has to show that he holds the reins of governance and not some invisible powers. This is the mark of a true leader. At this juncture Meghalaya needs one such leader. We cannot afford to be cynical or pessimistic!
The Congress party has always been its own worst enemy. Tugs of war and the game of one-up-man-ship are old Congress games. Each of the contenders for the chief minister’s chair have begun to do a head-count of their own sheep and will perhaps even finance the election of their cohorts. Is this good for the State? The people will answer!