The race for selecting a new leader to head the Government is going on in right earnest. However, the biggest hurdle for the Congress in Meghalaya is to find someone equal to the stature and competence of the present chief minister, Mukul Sangma and one who can outdo him in terms of service delivery. Leadership is not everyone’s forte. A leader is a team player but he is also ahead of the team in terms of seeing the big picture, guiding the team and taking action against laggards in the team who fail to deliver. The MUA Government headed by Dr Mukul Sangma has completed its third term and some of his ministers have failed to deliver but they continue to hold the same portfolio. So what are the benchmarks that the Chief Minister has set for them to achieve? Or are the benchmarks dispensed with so long as the particular minister professes loyalty to the Chief Minister? If we were to go by performance, then one minister who has failed to deliver and certainly deserves to be booted out is the PWD Minister. The roads within the city of Shillong and beyond wear a dishevelled look and those that were repaired recently have shown signs of crumbling after the first flush of rains. At the roundabout in Police Bazar which is the city centre, the road needs major repair works but does not look like it has come to the attention of the PWD and its Minister. There are other departments that have become non-starters. Our fiscal performance is dismal. Money is circulating only within a small circle in the state.
If the leadership change sought by the Congress MLAs now is for better performance and speedy delivery of public services then that would be a legitimate reason. But if the reason for switching sides from Mukul to Lapang is only for a more lucrative ministry then that is sheer opportunism and selfishness. The public should keep an eye on such opportunists and ensure that they are voted out next time. In every state the electorate are losing patience and they have also got wiser. Money no longer wins votes and we have seen this during the last Tura Lok Sabha bye-election. People will pocket the money but vote whoever they wish to. Hence the present set of ministers including the chief minister can no longer take people for granted. It is time they realise they are public servants who are mandated to deliver public services and are not VIPs who can ride roughshod over citizens.