From three time CM to Oppn leader : Cong as effective Opposition
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 27 2018 -
Chief Minister for three consecutive terms and emerging as the longest serving Chief Minister of the State to now trying to make a mark as an effective Opposition leader.
The journey of O Ibobi as a politician is indeed significant. And this is what Manipur needs.
After O Joy became some sort of a has been having suffered defeat at the Assembly elections for two consecutive terms, Manipur experienced the pangs of an absent Opposition and this was most visible after the 2012 Assembly election when the Congress swept aside all the other political parties and virtually had no Opposition, with Dr I Ibohalbi alone picking up some important issues and making the right noises.
A sort of an irony it is that apart from Dr I Ibohalbi, the only other Opposition member to disturb the Congress Government then was Kh Joykisan when he was first with the Trinamool Congress and later when he joined the BJP.
Now that Joykisan is with the Congress, it means that the Opposition has yet another personality who can disturb the Government with his probing questions and leave the BJP led Government uncomfortable.
An effective Opposition and this is what Manipur needs today and ironic it may seem, but leading the Opposition is O Ibobi who during his days on the Treasury bench gave it his best shot to brush aside the Opposition.
If at all there is a person who can understand the finer nuances of the absence of a strong Opposition, then surely it will be O Ibobi.
Maybe it is still too early to measure the man from Thoubal Assembly Constituency as an Opposition leader, but so far he seems to be making the right noises.
The latest being the trip to Delhi riding on three main points-Framework Agreement, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and the MU crisis.
Tough to say how the Centre will respond to the approach of the State unit of the Congress, but it is heartening to note that the Opposition is at least taking keen interest in some of the key issues besieging the State.
The sense of apprehension on the Framework Agreement inked between the Centre and the NSCN (IM) and the highly secretive nature of the details of the pact, the flutter created by the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the North Eastern States, given the large scale influx of non-locals into the region, and the ongoing agitation launched by the Manipur University Students’ Union (MUSU), are all issues which are dear to the people and pose a direct challenge to the existence of Manipur as a geo-political reality.
This is what is expected from the Opposition and everything points to the fact that the BJP led coalition Government cannot afford to sleep over the issues which have been flagged by the Opposition.
It is also interesting to note that the Congress seems to be going along with the civil society organisations on all these issues and this is what is expected of the Opposition.
A strong Government is needed yet at the same it also goes that a strong Opposition is what the people need.
And a strong Opposition need not necessarily mean a weak Government.
Both should draw their strength from each other, for both exist for the welfare of the people and the interest of the State.
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