By PBM Basaiawmoit
As soon as I switched on the TV news channel, was pleasantly surprised to see the live coverage of Mr. Purno Agitok Sangma, the Peoples’ candidate to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan after, Her Excellency, Smt. Pratibha Patil demits office.
I’ve used the term ‘peoples’ candidate’ intentionally and with a sense of purpose. He was not the candidate of the UPA and even the Party, he co-founded, did not so much as have the courtesy of wishing him luck but had threatened to take action against him should he stick to his guns. One can understand the dynamics behind the NCP not being with the Party co-founder but outwardly, appears not have the back bone to be independent of the UPA think tank while the SP has its compulsions to go by the Congress choice of Mr. Pranab Mukherjee but Mr. Sangma was first put up by the All India Anna DMK and the Biju Janata Dal and now, the BJP has decided to support our man from Meghalaya in the race to be India’s first citizen.
Mr. Sangma first entered parliament in 1977, along with Mr. H.S. Lyngdoh, by winning the Tura Lok Sabha seat but had to sit in the opposition as the Congress failed to command a majority in the Lok Sabha as a fall out of the emergency excess which was championed by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee on behalf of (L) Smt. Indira Gandhi and the emergency declaration was signed on the dotted line by a pliant President, (L) Fakhru-udin Ali Ahmed who hailed from Assam and had a home in Shillong. But that’s another story !
It was not long that Mr. Sangma caught the eye of the Congress High Command and was inducted into the council of ministers where he performed exceedingly well in various ministries entrusted to him to provide guidance and leadership. But he caught the eye of the nation as Lok Sabha Speaker – short with a long kurta, ever smiling and ably handling the most acrimonious scenes.
As Chief Minister of Meghalaya, he brought a new sense of work ethics and was ever dynamic, never tiring of challenges and grabbing opportunities coming and available. He was also Chairman of the State’s Planning Board and there too, he moulded it into a working Board and set up some seven working groups within the Board to make it functional, practical and to deliver the goods required. Had the alliance remained with the UDP President as Chief minister and PA Sangma, Chairman of the State Planning Board, I’m very certain that the SPB would have brought out the first Five Year Plan for State of 40 years but always functioning on an ad-hoc basis and the people would have known which the direction the State would be taking in the next five or ten years.
However, the race to Raisina Hill will not be a cake walk but the scenario is more conducive than 20 years back when another tribal leader, (L) G.G. Swell was the BJP candidate. And this time, the BJP/NDA that has come out to support a tribal, who has principles and not ready to compromise for position and power like being against a naturalised Indian becoming Prime Minister. Well, that’s the stand of the US and that’s why Dr. Henry Kissinger could never become US President since he was not born there. And recently, stating that the PM should be a member of the Lok Sabha and looking at the situation India is caught in, one cannot agree more with Mr. Sangma. These are fundamentals of a sovereign and democratic State.
The million dollar question is ‘Will Purno Agitok Sangma make it to Raisina Hill?’ The road is short but the route is winding with road blocks. If he does so, he will be the first tribal to make it in India’s 62 years being a Republic.
It is hoped that peoples’ representatives in Parliament and State Legislatures & Councils will transcend party barriers to vote with a conscience as Smt. Indira Gandhi broke ranks with the Congress Syndicate in 1969, calling for conscience vote across party lines in favour of (L) V.V. Giri, her independent candidate against (L) N. Sanjeeva Reddy, the official Congress candidate. Will 2012 repeat 1969? Cross your fingers till then.