Both the Members of Parliament belonging to the ruling NPF in Nagaland have decided to contest the February 23 Assembly Election in the State. It is obvious that to become an MLA and hold the post of a Minister is more attractive or perhaps lucrative then to remain an MP in far flung Delhi where there is probably no chance of holding office other than to be a mere Parliamentarian. Even to contribute to the debate and discussion in Parliament with a mere single digit MP can be quite frustrating. In fact the last two MPs who were elected on NPF tickets have since returned to State politics with one of them going on to become a senior Minister in the Neiphiu Rio government. But then the question arises as to why our elected leaders are only looking for money and power. Having been elected with a five year mandate, both the MPs should have served out their term. It also goes to show that our MPs have not bothered to do serious work in Delhi and instead they seem to be home sick all the time. This is not the way our elected leaders whom we send to Delhi ought to be. They should always be striving to work for the people, which itself should be the real incentive to work and not otherwise.
Coming back to the two MPs who have now decided to return to State politics, Nagaland will be in for another Lok Sabha Bye-Election, which could be both costly and time consuming. And with only a year or so left for Lok Sabha General Election, it would have been better to avoid two back to back Lok Sabha elections. But unless there is a snap polls, a Bye-Election to fill in the vacant Lok Sabha seat will have to be conducted within a period of six months, that is sometime before August-September 2013. Anyway with the post-poll scenario in Nagaland likely to be hugely competitive, whichever government takes office, the Chief Minister and party bosses will find the two vacant MP seats very useful for the purpose of political management. And this is also precisely the problem of the lack of quality leadership. We tend to choose the wrong people to get elected to such august office of a Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. Irrespective of political parties, whether Congress or NPF, it is often the case that because of political compulsion we choose not the best or most capable but those who will serve a particular leader or the political party. A case in point was giving the Rajya Sabha seat to a person who had lost the Assembly Election in 2008.
The notion among politicians especially in Nagaland is that getting elected requires that one has to run after power and money. For instance, all elected MLAs in Nagaland (60 of them) will not end up holding office. Some will be in government and some in opposition. But the point is that all of them are elected representatives and whether one is in the ruling government or opposition, it is their duty to serve the people. Being part of the government or becoming a Minister is a bonus no doubt but serving the people is the real duty and work of every elected leader. It is interesting yet true that the run up to the election is the only time when our politicians make all kinds of assurance to serve the people. In fact it is the season where our politicians speak a lot of good things and they make sense. After elections is over it is all non-sense. Now is the best opportunity to actually question our politicians about failed promises or future guarantees. Whether our public, they are carefully screening the political parties or choosing the right kind of leaders to represent them, this is the time to make important choices and one that we will not complain or regret later.
