By Wangkheimayum Bhupendra Singh
State Chief Minister Okram Ibobi has recently announced his cabinet ministers and with it begins his third innings at the helm of state affairs. While everyone had speculated a simple defeat if not a huge one for the Congress in the recently held state general election, the result turned the tables on everyone and put the Congress in the winning seat with a thumping majority. Surely, a win with such a big margin had come as a surprised to many; however the fact is that the Congress is back in power and had recently announced its cabinet ministers. Winning by such big margin, had left quite a task for both the party’s state and central leaders on choosing the few who would hold cabinet portfolios. This is evident from the time taken by the party in announcing the list. It took almost two months for the party leaders to announce the final list. Many had also speculated tiffs between the state leaders of the party regarding their own respective lists of probable candidates. Well considering the time taken and the number of trips taken by the party’s state leaders to the national capital in the past one month or so, this could have been not so far from the truth. The state and its people in choosing their representatives and placing them in the seats of power expect fulfillment of certain aspirations and desires from them, which should be reciprocated and look into by their representatives in power so as not to kill such expectations. The representatives have all the blessings from the public to bring a responsible government at the helm of state things.
Now as CM Ibobi’s third innings has already started, it remains to be seen how effective the captain and his teammates are in acting out their duties towards the state and its people. Even as the ruling party had been engrossed in the formation of the government, several small issues which have all the ingredients of snowballing into bigger issues have risen. It would certainly be wise on the part of the state to consider these issues at the earliest before one amongst them snowballed into something big and invite public wrath. Some among the issues worth mentioning are the recent Jessami-Meluri impasse, ALTOS-Bus Owners impasse and Richard case. Many other issues had eventually worked itself out with minimum interference from the government like the recent disappearance of Don Bosco School student Takhellambam Rahul. The Don Bosco student was found at Chandel by his schoolmates on April 30 after disappearing on April 21. The Jessami-Meluri impasse is presently under control with district administrations and NGOs chalking out ways to find a solution. The state government had also assured the setting up of a company of state force at Jessami village, however the issue has also the ingredients of turning back around and rear its ugly head again. On the Richard case, the state Home Minister Gaikhangam as reported had informed during a recent cabinet meeting that the government has resolved to send an officer not below the rank of a Superintendent of Police to Karnataka to take full report of the case.
With the formation of a new government in the state, the general public has high hopes and lots of expectations and it is up to the newly elected representatives to fulfill all of them. The representatives in the seats of power should also understand the fact that providing only assurances and not acting upon them could only buy sometime and that it could never bring a lasting solution to any issue.