Who should be next CM of Chhattisgarh? छत्तीसगढ़ का अगला मुख्यमंत्री कौन?

Who should be the next CM for Chhattisgarh? 

 Let me not make any introductory paragraph with beautiful lines. All in Chhattisgarh are thinking who next? I would first say a big NO to Dr. Raman Singh. He has simply failed in proving himself to be a visionary and a candidate worth considering for a second term. We have seen only two Chief Ministers in Chhattisgarh and the later has failed in fulfilling all hopes at all fronts, simply because he fails to have the first prerequisite to become a CM, the vision. I will, hence not analyze his 2.5 years tenure but simply discuss what was done by his predecessor in his tenure of 3 years. The point I want to make is, ours is a new state with great expectations and huge potential, and it thus requires to be ruled by someone with a great vision, excellent executioner’s skills, and an ability to think rationally and innovatively. To put it simply, we want a CEO for our state and not a politician. Unfortunately we did not get one yet. And we haven’t found one yet. In this post, I will discuss why I would like the developmental policies of Mr. Ajit Jogi to be continued by the next chief minister, and why I would not like Mr. Jogi to become the chief minister of the state for the second term.

Ajit Jogi the CEO: 

Following reasons make me to conclude that he is an excellent visionary and a good manager:

1. His decision to establish CSEB (State electricity Board) soon after the state formation. This was a decision which made Chhattisgarh a power surplus state. And he took this decision at the discomfort of his counterpart in Madhya Pradesh without whose support he would not have become the first CM of the state. It is he who envisioned Chhattisgarh as the power hub of the country.
2. His decision to close operations of State Road Transport Corporation and many other public sector companies. It was a courageous decision. While several states in India suffer from this burden called SRTC; they do not have that courage.
3. Merger of RDA (Raipur Development Authority) with RMC (The Municipal Corporation of
   Raipur). His decision to shut down the Housing Board. Abolishing Commissioner System (Three Divisions Raipur, Bilaspur and Jagdalpur ceased to exist, there was only one Revenue division in Bilaspur, this decision was repelled by the new government). These examples are sufficient to infer that he had started something like a Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) in the state.
4. Introduction of a three years medical degree course. I guess he thought of this course because he wanted doctors in villages. It takes 7-10 years for an MCI certified course to produce a medical graduate. Though the arrogant MCI did not approve of the course, enough to conclude that he had innovative ideas and the guts to implement them.
5. Opening of private universities. We know what happened later. Though there were some policy flaws on the part of conditions or entry barriers to ensure that only quality institutes would open, this had the potential not only to revolutionize the education system in
   India but also to make Chhattisgarh the hub of higher education in the country.
6. Fast progress on infrastructure (Roads, Dams, Bridges etc.).
7. Conversion of many government schools in to CBSE pattern.
8. Abolishment of PET and PMT examinations. It was a good decision. Not all parents can send there children to
   Kota or even Bhilai and pay high fees of coaching institutes. Also, this would have saved students from the pressure of two examinations.
9. The Industrial policy which resulted in Chhattisgarh becoming Sponge-Iron manufacturing hub in the country. There were some other MOU’s in steel and power. (Though we did not get something like POSCO or Mittal’s investment as in the case of Orisa and Jharkhand)
10. Crack down of notorious anti social elements
11. His efforts to change the crop cycle of the state.

Ajit Jogi the politician:

It is not bad to be a politician; we have seen the likes of Prime Minister Nehru who were a CEO as well as a politician. But today’s politics is different and in that politics Mr. Jogi is no different:

1. His less democratic values:

(a)    “हमारी काँग्रेस पार्टी के विधायक, श्री बलिराम कश्यप के नेतृत्व में बनने वाली सरकार का समर्थन करते हैं” (The Legislators of our Congress Party Support the government to be established under the leadership of Mr. Baliram Kashyap). This was his letter to the governor of the state, just after the election results were out. That was simply an act to destabilize the state government which was yet to be established. This raises questions about his respect to democratic traditions. Although he regrets writing a letter without being elected as the leader of the new CLP (Congress Legislator’s Party), if I am not incorrect, he still thinks what he did was right as he supported the efforts to establish a government with a leadership of an Adivasi. Even if the tapes produced by the BJP of his talks with Mr. Virendra Pandey, an aid of Mr. Baliram Kashyap, are not real, he at least tried to do away with the verdict of people who replaced him and elected BJP as the party with a majority in the state assembly.

(b)   His successful effort to break 12 BJP MLA’s and induct them into congress. The Tarun Chatterjee Episode. When the Congress party had full majority in the state assembly, what was the need?

(c)    The infamous April 2001 lathi charge on BJP leaders protesting against the government in
Raipur. Many opposition leaders including the leader of opposition Mr. Nand Kuamr Sai were injured seriously.

    2.   His cast based politics:

Again refereeing to the previous point, he supports the idea that there should be a tribal as the chief minister of this state as majority of the people in the state are tribesman. I do not believe that problems of a community can be solved only when someone from a particular cast will become a chief minister. If he supports this, he is not my candidate for the post of the chief minister of the state. There are few more instances, an effort under the leadership of ex DGP Mr. RLS Yadav to convene a big congregation of backward casts (probably to do a
Bihar in Chhattisgarh), and the ‘cast based’ dinner parties at ‘Karuna’ his official residence. It was probably unique of its kind that a chief minister invites people to dinner on the basis of which cast they belong to. If these dinner parties were funded from the exchequer’, then no words to condemn it.

 

I welcome comments

Hitendra

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