By H.H.Mohrmen
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made its début into the country’s political stage with a bang and the people of Delhi have silenced those political pundits who maintain that a new party like the AAP will not even break ground in the state. Arvind Kejriwal who led the AAP from the front and from scratch has not only shocked his adversaries but has also made his critics eat humble pie. Now the media spotlight and entire nation’s eyes are on the new government in Delhi.
The rise of Arvind Kejriwal and his party is phenomenal, so much so he was able to silence a section of his critics; the other section had no other option but to maintain a wait and watch approach. The latter group of Kejriwal’s critics can only wait for him to commit mistakes and continue their tirade against him and the AAP but they turn their blind eyes to the changes that he is able to bring about in a very short span of time.
Whenever a phenomenal incident which makes people feel good occurs there is a tendency for people to wish that such incidents are repeated closer to where we are. We even hope that it has its repercussions in and around us. Therefore when Arvind Kejriwal took centre stage in the prime time of electronic media and occupied prominent space in most of the print media, we look inwards with a inquisitive mind and question at the state of affairs in Meghalaya and the kind of politicians that we have. We question ourselves whether the AAP effects can happen in our state? Why can’t we have our own Arvind Kejriwal here in Meghalaya? Hence it was no surprise to read in the press that media persons even took this on with those in power and questioned them of their opinion on the Kejriwal effect. Media persons asked Dr Sangma for his opinion on the opulence and extravagance practiced by politicians here including the read beacon lights and security paraphernalia. Dr Mukul has his own justification to continue using the same.
The reason is because Arvind Kejriwal and Mukul Sangma are two different breeds of politicians. Kejriwal is a rebel or a reformer turned politician whose objective is to bring change by striking at the root of the problem. Both of them joined politics with a hope to bring change to the society and the State, but the difference, in my opinion, is the fact that one is a servant politician while the other is a master politician. Kejriwal wants to bring change and the change that happened around him does not change him per se. Status and power does not change him. He remains the common man no matter what. While politicians like Dr Mukul Sangma were affected by the change that happened around and they changed with the power and the position they have held. The most common kind of politicians are those that call themselves servants once in five years only, when they go to beg for people’s votes. Once the public catapult them to the power and position, they overnight become masters of the people. While politicians like Kejriwal continue to be servants of the public, hence they don’t see the need to live in a mansion or to bring a convoy of security to protect them. They continue to serve the people.
Mukul belongs to the common breed of politicians whose objective is to continue with what has been going on. He hopes to bring change by maintaining the existing system. In other words he tries to bring development using the existing system. This particular class of politicians want to bring change by adopting a very gradual approach. By the time they themselves change and try to change the system it will be too late and people will not consider it a change at all.
In a little less than one year that the Mukul led Congress government has ruled the state so much has happened and people can themselves judge whether Dr Sangma’s style of leadership has been able to bring change to the state or not. Take for instance his approach in tackling the ILP issue by trying to sell to the State the controversial Tenancy Bill – the proposal that even his government is now considering to withdraw – has expended much of the scarce public time and money not only in drafting the bogus bill but also consider the time, money, energy and precious lives lost due to the government’s lackadaisical approach in tackling the ILP issue. This is the typical attitude of master politicians who see the public as the subjects to rule over and that they – the rulers- can do anything once they are elected.
This is the same attitude that led to the kind of Lok Ayukta that we have in the state. The Congress-led government refuses to listen to the demands made by the public and gave us a Lok Ayukta that needs to be amended every now and again. Then consider how much of public time is squandered in drafting, redrafting the bill and the waste of precious assembly time just because we have a government that places the interest of those in power first and that of the public later.
This government’s attitude towards the environment is also obvious from the way it chooses to sweep the Meghalaya Mining and Mineral Policy under the carpet. It has taken the government more than two years to come up with its own policy only to keep it in the back-burner. Again, isn’t this a total waste of time? If the government has no intention of implementing the policy why waste public money and time in the process?
The servant politician does not need a cavalcade of security vehicles to follow him. They do not see the need of a red beacon atop their car, while the master politician cannot live without any of these because these are symbols of power and prestige for them. A decent accommodation will do for the servant politician, but the master politician needs a bungalow and may be few more building to accommodate their extended family.
Leaders like Arvind Kejriwal not only try to meet the challenge that their critics raise, but they challenge themselves and continue to raise the bar as they try to reach new heights. The conventional politician on the other hand is complacent and have neither the will nor vision to think out of the box and bring change. It is rather unfortunate that the common breed of politicians are still in control of the politics in the entire country. One only hopes that Arvind Kejriwal’s tribe increases.
Hence we cannot even compare Mukul Sangma and Arvind Kejriwal. The two belong to a different league altogether. In his brief appearance on the political stage, Arvind already had reams of newsprint in the entire country on him, while Mukul is not known beyond Meghalaya. We cannot compare Dr Sangma even with Tarun Gogoi the Chief Minister of Assam, and to read in the newspapers that Dr Sangma took on Narendra Modi is amusing. Isn’t this the same Mukul Sangma who in the last assembly sent his own MLAs to visit Gujarat and learn from Modi’s government? Dr. Sangma would do himself a favour if he maintains silence, knowing that Modi could very well be the Prime Minister that he will have to deal with in the future. Dr Sangma still has a long way to go to earn his place in the history of the State because right now there is not much to mention about him except that he is Chief Minister of the Meghalaya for two consecutive terms.