Sworn in on March 15 and clearly the honeymoon period should be over for the BJP led Government. Now is the time to get down to the business of governing the State. Nearly a month old now and the BJP led Government will obviously have to deal with the trail of destruction left by the recent heavy rain and strong winds. Don’t know where it will start, but the district administrations must have started pulling up their sleeves to take stock of the situation and see what can be done to address the losses suffered by the people. As things stand today, Sirarakhong village in Ukhrul district stands cut off following the massive landslide in which at least 4 houses have sunk. Fortunately there was no human casualty and how the villagers cope with the situation will be known when reports start coming in. Elsewhere too the heavy rain left a trail of destruction and it must have destroyed standing crops. How fast the State Government is able to calculate the losses will perhaps be the first real test of the BJP led Government. The next test will obviously be how effectively it responds to the situation and takes care of the sufferings of the people. This is also the time for the Government to start studying how the use of plastic carry bags can be checked, for the flood in Imphal city was largely due to clogged drains and all know how plastics go a long way in clogging drains and water ways. And it was none than Chief Minister N Biren, who while he was the Chairman of the Manipur Pollution Control Board, had gone about putting restrictions on sale and use of plastic carry bags. The question is what has happened to that drive ?
It would be in the fitness of things for the Chief Minister to complete the incomplete task and see how measures can be put in place to effectively check the rampant use of plastic carry bags. A look around should suffice the point that is sought to be made here. A look at the Naga river will reveal how plastics have literally covered the natural drainage system. It is the same thing when one looks at the khongbans at every leirak and leikai. Still another five years to go before the next Assembly election, but it would do the BJP a whole lot of good to study how 39 of the candidates it fielded in the 60 Assembly seats lost the election and why it was not in a position to form the Government on its own. Politically speaking, striking up alliances is good, but definitely the BJP would have felt better if it was in the position to form the Government on its own without relying on the support of its allies. Did the BJP overlook certain important points while naming its candidates ? Did it actually award the party’s ticket to all the right candidates ? These are questions which it should start tackling now, for remember five years can just go by in a jiffy. Good start for the BJP, but ideally it should start exploring the question of where it wants to see Manipur five years down the line. This is what will count ultimately.
Source: The Sangai Express
