Demand for probe into Ministers' assets
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: November 12 2011 -

Satyajit Usham from the desk

Amidst the crippling impact of prolonged bandh and blockade, and the hardships being faced by the people; the political atmosphere in Manipur remained, particularly, a charged one, over the past few couple of days with two visiting heavy stalwarts of BJP levelling a number of serious charges against Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh and his Secular Progressive Front (SPF) Ministry.

While Yashwant Sinha, the party MP and former Union Finance Minister in the erstwhile NDA government, has charged Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh of having nexus with underground organizations and alleged the Central government has not been taking up any action against Ibobi only because he is a Congressman, National spokesperson of the party and MP Prakash Javadekar demanded immediate investigation into disproportionate assets of the Ministers in the Ibobi Singh led SPF government and contended that 'if there is one state which required immediate Lok Ayukta, it is Manipur'.

Even if the visit of the two BJP stalwarts was to have a spot assessment of the situation stemming out of the over three-month long economic blockade on the twin National Highways passing through the state, the manner of firing the salvos at the Ibobi Ministry with a vengeance was definitely in tune with the upcoming election to the 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly scheduled to take place sometime in February next year. Nonetheless, some pertinent questions have spewed out of their outbursts that need to be analyzed and digested.

The charges of corruption and the demand for investigation into disproportionate assets of the Ministers in the SPF Ministry is something that should not be taken lightly any more.

In fact, sometime earlier, a Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Minister of Forest and Environment Th Devendra had been set up with Minister of Agriculture Ph Parijat, Minister of Information TN Haokip, Minister of Health & Family Welfare L Jayantakumar Singh and Minister of Irrigation & Flood Control N Biren as members, to look into the matter and make necessary recommendations to the State Cabinet for making public the assets and other liabilities of all the Ministers.

In spite of its ludicrous composition, the Cabinet Sub-Committee had been constituted following strong instruction from the Union Home Ministry, which has taken serious note over lingering corruption charges against Chief Minister O Ibobi and his Council of Ministers. We may recall that in a confidential cable release by Wikileaks in September, 2006, Henry Jardine, the then Consul General of US Consulate General in Kolkata, underscored the corrupt state of affairs in Manipur.

Reporting that rampant corruption was complicating the effort to control rising violence in the state, the US official also mentioned that Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh was known as 'Mr Ten Percent' for the amount of money that he takes from contracts and government projects.

Now, the question is why the Cabinet Sub-Committee is taking so long in submitting its recommendations? Although spokesperson of the SPF government Minister Biren, who is also a member of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, is reported to have assured that the recommendations would be submitted soon, he has shied away from giving any definite deadline.

Frankly speaking, we are baffle - How long will it takes for the 12 Ministers in SPF Ministry to fill up the forms provided the Union Home Ministry for disclosing their assets?

Hope, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh aka 'Mr Ten Percent' has an answer.