New Delhi
Type a simple question in google search box - How the phrase damp squib started. And the response is - "While most modern squibs used by professionals are insulated from moisture, older uninsulated squibs needed to be kept dry in order to ignite, thus a "damp squib" was literally one that failed to perform because it got wet".
I am far off in Delhi but the lead story of 'Nagaland Page' (June 12, 2023) has a telling statement. 'The Rain came down and Dimapur got water-logged'. This coincides with the Modi government's ongoing publicity nationwide on how much it has delivered during the last nine years.
Dimapur got wet and the performance of the state government is obviously damp squib.
In 2014, it was an NPF government in Nagaland. Within months, it was a consensus government and it was hardly anti-Modi regime. Thus when the Framework Agreement came in 2015, there was no issue or controversy from Kohima.
Three Congress-ruled states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur resisted. And by March 2018, it was Double Engine government on saddle.
So, all efficiency and deluge have to be shared between JP Nadda and Chingwang Konyak.
Once people used to say Dimapur would have been heaven without mosquitoes. The 'general improvement' (sic) in the overall situation now gives critics chance to say -- the township would have been heaven without traffic, without water-logging, without power cuts and maybe even without a suspected big army of infiltrators from Bangladesh !
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and the newly appointed state Governor La Ganesan may have to pull up sleeves. The BJP has been sharing power in Nagaland since 2018 under a leader who returned to power for the fifth-term.
Will there be a denial that there was water-logging -- is something I am wondering as I write these lines.
The 'Nagaland Page' story runs - "Many kutcha houses in low lying areas were partially submerged....the state Disaster Management team took stock of the situation". It was as if a massive flood has been resulted due to overflow of river Brahmaputra or so.
'Nagaland Page' story on deluge
The efficient media managers of the NDPP-BJP regime and Chingwang Konyak's party believe 'denial' is part of a solution to all problems. One Minister even denied the context of the proceedings in the Supreme Court.
My apprehension is perhaps also a matter of more than intellectual interest.
For roads we have Nitin Gadkari's tweets and snaps and also the remark of the village council chairman at Oting (Mon district) Longwang Konyak: 'Raasta beya asey, kopal besi asey'. That region is now awaiting bifurcation of administrative and financial powers. Summer in Dimapur used to be a nightmare from the days when Shikiho Sema was the Power Minister under S C Jamir.
It has maintained the consistency record in power failures pretty effectively. Power sector is another area of government's poster-campaign achievement during the last nine years.
These are some of the snags of the Double Engine in Kohima, and one says so at the risk of provoking some denials and justifications. As I interact with Naga politicians and intellectuals
on daily basis, I find most of them are now waiting for the return of 'good Congress days' in Delhi. Of course the Congress has ruled in the state for many years and left some of the milestones of misgovernance too.
But the Therie-Supongmeren team should immediately request Mallikarjun Kharge in writing to put a ban that none from NDPP and BJP should be taken in if there is change of guard in Delhi. And I tell you, Shri Chingwang Konyak will smile to read this line though he will be annoyed over my suggestion. So would most pro-BJP die-hard Himanta friends.
Of course Himanta Biswa Sarma is never a Nagpur body and home coming is allowed for prodigal sons in Assam too.
The 'snag' in the Double Engine in Imphal looks more serious and of ominous spectre. Himanta must have tried to play 'chief engineer' up to a level during his recent Imphal visit. Of course it is always interesting to see that his own BJP colleagues are not so much confident of Himanta's efficacy as the Naga leaders in NDPP.
"Manipur is now effectively divided into ethnic zones, as long-simmering tensions between two groups ....Citizens who belong to the wrong group may not safely pass. Many have painted their ethnicity on doors, lest their homes be burned in a case of mistaken identity," says a piece in 'New York Times' penned by a retired army officer, Lt Gen H S Panag.
"Once known for its scenic beauty, hence called the ‘Switzerland of the East’, today, black, dark smoke and the cries of the innocent and the young engulf the state," goes another article in 'Imphal Free Press'.
In Manipur too besides the new challenges thrown by ethnic troubles; there are serious issues of governance like in neighbouring Nagaland. Chief Minister N Biren Singh has somehow survived for reasons more than one.
But there is total collapse of the administrative apparatus chiefly due to polarisation and hence the Governor Anusuiya Uikey, new DGP Rajiv SIngh and also armed forces will continue to struggle to reboot the system. Of course the conspiracy angle for the violence has to be unearthed by the CBI and FIRs have been filed already.
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| Governor Ms Uikey |
The paradox of power politics in both the states is such that while in Manipur people would prefer President's Rule; ask voters in Nagaland -- and they do not mind another round of election within a year or so. Why? Come on, paisa pabo toh !
Cash will flow and there are still few weeks left to get all Rs 2000 currency notes replaced. How are banks in Nagaland doing business with Rs 2000 notes is another possible good story coming in.
ends
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