RB : Peppered with 'Former' ? Predictably unpredictable
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 26, 2012 -

As in life, almost everything about politics is predictably unpredictable. Barely 24 hours after writing to the president of the Nationalist Congress Party, Sharad Pawar, that the resignation of PA Sangma from the party has not had any effect in the North East, Mr Radhabinod Koijam finds himself as a former State unit president of the party.

Former Chief Minister of Manipur, former MLA of Thangmeiband Assembly Constituency and now former president of the State unit of the NCP and by extension former Chairperson of the North East Nationalist Congress Co-ordination Committee, the journey of Mr Koijam has been anything but smooth during the last few years.

This is not the first time that Mr Koijam finds himself looking at the wrong end of the tunnel and notwithstanding the patchy ride he has had in the last few years, it would be premature to wind up his political career with the suffix 'Former.'

The charges levelled against Mr Koijam include among others the lame duck showing of the NCP in the election to the 10th Assembly, where from four MLAs in the previous regime it managed to send only one MLA to the Assembly, violating party's norms while appointing office bearers and not providing information on the amount of money the party had earmarked for each candidate in the recently held election.

The charges are significant though not exhaustive, but for a man who is widely regarded as being instrumental in not only taking the NCP to the State Assembly but also in ensuring that it emerged as the single largest Opposition party in the last Assembly, these charges are unlikely to make a dent on his political career.

Mr Koijam has not merely survived over three decades in public life as a politician but has also made a mark for himself and this calls for something more than the ordinary or the average.

Radhabinod Koijam may be largely remembered as a Chief Minister who was at the helm for only 60 days or so, but this would be missing the wood for the trees.

Unpopular the decisions were, but in the extremely brief period of two months or so, Mr Koijam demonstrated a political toughness peppered with confidence, which were and have not been seen since then.

Heading the Government as a Samata Party MLA and banking heavily on other political parties for the survival of his Government, this however did not stop him from adopting some radical decisions which would have been unthinkable otherwise.

Axing the service of numerous adhoc Government employees and declaring a unitary ceasefire with the militant outfits active and operating in the State were decisions which no Chief Minister, preceding him or following him, have been able to adopt. The unilateral ceasefire was never responded to by the armed outfits, but a political statement was made.

The decision to terminate the service of numerous adhoc employees certainly did not go down well with quite a large number of people, but it did send out a signal that the Government was there to do a job.

Tough and confident decisions certainly but in these very decisions the persona of Mr Koijam also stood exposed as a leader who could not take others along with him.

In short, Radhabinod Koijam failed to demonstrate that he was a team player as well, and this could be one reason why the BJP did not hesitate to pull the rug from under his Government, though the Samata Party and the BJP were partners in the NDA at that point of time.

Now a man without a party and without a seat in the Assembly, it would be interesting to watch how the man from Thangmeiband Assembly Constituency gets his act together to come back in the reckoning. It would be impudent to write him off.